Clashing Colors RvsG edition
by Delphidelion
Summary: Genma sees a television special about the Power Puff Girls and makes a call to his old friend, Soun. If what he saw was true, the engagement will have to be postponed for one generation.
1. Change of Plans

**Disclaimer:** I own neither the Power Puff Girls nor Ranma ½. This is purely a labor of love(no, not that kind) with no intentions to create profit of any kind. Attempts at a lawsuit will be met with extreme temper tantrums.

**Clashing Colors**

Ch.1 – Change of Plans

It was another busy day in the Townsville National Airport. Everything was moving at a fast and oddly organized fashion. This, however, did not stop people from staring at the oddly dressed duo strolling to the exit. It was not unusual in the sense that there were two people that just arrived in the city, nor the fact that they were Asian. It was the clothing that made people pause. It was like a kung fu film had walked off the plane.

"This is great pops. I can't believe you actually spent the money to fly us to America!" Started the shorter and younger of the duo, hopping left to right with 13 hours of pent up energy. Save for the pigtailed hairstyle, one would think he was a clone of the mighty Bruce Lee. He even wore the little kung fu slippers you'd see in the movies. He was wearing a red sleeveless silk shirt of obvious Chinese design. It left many a teenaged girl week in the knees, especially those with the yellow fever.

"Ranma, use your English!" Shouted the older of the two. He was a bear of a man, his visible muscles bulged with intense power to those that knew what to look for. Even for someone who didn't, the man had an air of experience about him. The fact that he wore a worn Gi also helped with the image, even if he was wearing a bandanna to hid his baldness. "We are going to be here for a while after all, and we can't let the world think that we Saotome's are idiots."

"Yeah," the boy switching to his accented English, "about that. Weren't we on the way back to Japan just before you up and decided this?" Questioned the boy. It wasn't that he was complaining, but after years of his father's schemes, he knew when to start prodding for answers. They were at their destination, so he knew his fathers tongue would be much more loose about his objective. "As I recall you were going on about family honor and such as the reason we needed to return to Japan in the first place."

_Might as well fess up... or at least tell some of the truth, _the older man grinned. _I don't think he's ready to learn about the engagement, or the fact that we moved it down a generation._ "The truth of the matter is that a friend of mine is the only other student of my old master. We are the only two existing schools of the Anything Goes school of martial arts. We were going to discuss a matter of great importance to both of the schools, but that changed not to long ago." The man stopped to hail a cab now that they had exited the building. However, before he got a chance to continue, chaos erupted in the form of what looked like a pink bear in pants causing wanton destruction.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" The older man shouted. "Ranma, as the son and student of the great Genma Saotome, it is your duty to show the world the strength of our school." He hefted Ranma up by the front of his shirt and launched the poor boy across the highway to do battle. "It is the duty of a martial artist to defeat monsters!"

"Pops, you suuuuuu-!"

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The pink and overly fuzzy man of the mountains, Fuzzy, was letting his frustration out on the world. He didn't remember what set him off this time. All he knew was it was the last straw. He was going to let the world know to stop touching his property and just leave him be. In his rage he grabbed a parked car and threw it as far as he could. He was just about to pull out a light post to do more damage with when he was blindsided by a human projectile.

"-uuuuck -oof-!" Ranma's cry was cut off as he met with Genma's target. He rolled with the impact and sprung to his feet hoping that whatever this thing was, it was dazed enough for him to figure out what the heck was going on.

"Hey there, fluffy, why don't you take a breather and count to ten. Then you can tell me what's got your fuzzy pink butt on fire." He started using his best weapon, his tongue, to see if he couldn't slip up his opponent to goad him into attacking to make things a little easier. _Wow, either I've gotten way better at that or fluffy here is just pissed at the world!_ Ranma thought grinning from ear to ear as he ducked a swipe that could have taken his head off. "Jeez, I've taken on a panda with more grace than you." He took the opportunity to roll through the legs of the berserk man and swept the guys legs out from under him. "Too slow, Pinky." Ranma taunted as he Jumped into a flip from his position on the ground and sent the hick into dreamland with an ax kick follow up. "Now be a good boy and take a nice nap!"

Ranma smiled and stretched to his fullest, standing tall over his victory. "Well now, that wasn't so bad." He smirked as he bounded back to his father who was waiting at the taxi, unaware of the six eyes following him the entire time.

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Three girls were sitting down enjoying their lives talking about nothing and everything. They were the best of friends, and the sweethearts of Townsville itself. The lunch period had just started and they quickly claimed the hill by the big oak tree in the center of the school grounds to wait for their other friends. They were none other than the superheroes, the Power Puff Girls. They still wore the colors of their youth, but the styles had changed.

"Y'know, I've been thinking. Hasn't it been unusually quiet around here lately?" One of the girls started. She was known to all as Blossom, the leader of the trio. She was a beautiful girl by anyone's standards. She had her bright red hair held in a ponytail by her favorite red ribbon that reached her waist that bounced about lively with the slightest move of her head. She was wearing a short, tight red spaghetti strap that exposed her belly button and formed around her b-sized breasts(she was proud of them and knew they would get bigger, she was only a freshmen after all). She had on an equally tight pair of jeans that held most boys attention. Her attire ended with a pair of bright white sneakers. She was easily the tallest of her sisters at 5'11'', and the most logical as well.

"Well, it doesn't matter to me," The blonde sister replied, " I kind of like having some time to just relax and enjoy quiet." This one was Bubbles. She was the cute one. Everything about her oozed cuteness, like a room full of hello kitty. Her Blonde pigtails fell to her knees and framed her body the whole way down. She wore a light blue sundress and white sandals. She was smaller overall than Blossom, with an a-cup and standing at 5'6''. She had the personality of her namesake and was easily the kindest, purist person anyone could meet.

"Are you kidding!" Came a cry of outrage from the Black-haired sibling. "We haven't had a decent fight in over two weeks! No Mojo, Him or the Gangreen Gang! Hell, I'd give anything to see the Amoeba Boys doing something stupid for a change!" To say that Buttercup was aggravated about the lack of criminal activities was an understatement. She was enjoying the downtime, but felt she was getting rusty with the long downtime. She had her hair combed back, a little shorter than when she was a kid. She was always wearing a neon green basketball jersey, black spandex shorts and green high tops(She would maintain the argument that a fight could break out at any second and that it payed to be prepared for a fight). She was the shortest of her siblings, just barely reaching five feet tall, and still had no need for a bra. Yeah, it pissed her off. She was a high-tension girl, and no one(not even her loving sisters) dared call her short or flat-chested.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Blossom came back in, "At least not completely. Most of our enemies seem to be in a lull, and things have been nice. All I'm saying is that maybe we should consider some extra-curricular activities or hobbies to fill the void."

"Like what? They would never let us do sports." Came the annoyed reply from Buttercup.

The Bubbles bounced in with her own two cents "Oh, I know! We could work on getting Buttercup her first boyfriend" She looked to find buttercup gaping at her with a face that made her look like a Christmas ornament. "Or girlfriend?" This changed the face from just embarrassed to mortified.

"C'mon, Bubbles, you know we shouldn't talk about that here. No one outside of us knows about that." Blossom said as she put a hand on Buttercup's shoulder to calm her down a bit. "Besides, I'm sure she'll find someone that is right for her in the future."

"Yeah, somehow I don't see that. She is bi with a love for anyone that can fight. I don't know of anyone like that around here. She needs to lower her standards just a bit. Besides, anyone that can fight is either an enemy or an outright monster. The only one I can think of is Butch, and she hates Butch." Noticing her smaller sister's downcast look, she realized she was being too honest again. "I'm sorry, Buttercup, I didn't mean it like that. I just think you don't spend enough time thinking of yourself as a girl. Relax and just live a little." She smiled and hugged her sister.

Buttercup couldn't help but smile with her sister. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I may as well do stuff just for me with all this free time."

It was nice for her sisters to see Buttercup's happy smile instead of the deranged one she had developed for fighting... like the one she was wearing now. That was when they realized there bracelets were buzzing.

Blossom sighed while looking at her wrist. _And I thought we were finally gonna get Buttercup to start acting more like a girl._ "Hello?"

"Girls, It's Fuzzy!" Came the Mayor's panicked voice, "He just started a rampage near Townsville National! I need you to get there pronto!"

Just as the rest of their friends, mainly the Ruffs and a couple others, came to join them, the girls stood.

"Sorry guy's, duty calls." Blossom said just before the super trio flew off.

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"It's about time something happened!" Buttercup couldn't remember being more relieved, so much so that she was doing barrel rolls around her sisters as she flew. Not only was there a fight coming up, but it got her out of an embarrassing love life discussion with her sisters. _Yeah, Blossom and Brick are kind of together, and Bubbles is just too flighty to stay with just one boy, even if she was too innocent to let her self go beyond first base_. She knew there was probably no one out there that fit to her tastes exactly, and with her particular preferences, she really didn't want to know how she'd react if she had to make a definitive choice between men and women. "C'mon guys, let's get there and have some fun."

"Just don't string him along too much, Buttercup." Warned Blossom. "Remember he gets stronger and faster the angrier he gets. The Ruffs will only come as a last minute emergency since they still can't control the magnitude of their powers fully."

"Just as well, I could use a nice long fight to counter the embarrassment I suffered at your guy's hands!" Followed by Buttercup's favored raspberry. She was brought to a stop real quick though. Just in time to see a boy around their age get launched at a rampaging Fuzzy Lumpkins by an old man in a karate outfit. "whoa!"

Blossom looked on in morbid fascination, "Why would anyone willingly put another in Fuzzy's path during a rampage?"

"Noooo! He's too cute to be murdered!" Bubbles was starting to tear up.

They raced to catch the poor boy, but were brought to another stop as the boy and Fuzzy collided, and then roll/jump back to his feet almost too fast for even the girls to keep up with. They needed to see what this boy was capable of doing. He could either be a new threat(Blossom), someone to learn a thing or two from(Buttercup) or a new target to use against Buttercup(Bubbles). Seeing as they couldn't gauge this new kid's abilities without watching, they decided to sit on the nearest rooftop. What the boy did next just left the girls stunned.

"Hey there, fluffy, why don't you take a breather and count to ten. Then you can tell me what's got your fuzzy pink butt on fire."

_He's actually taunting him!_ Blossom stared in dismay.

Fuzzy roared in anger as he clawed at the teen's head only to miss as the teen ducked and rolled though Fuzzy's legs. "Jeez, I've taken on a panda with more grace than you."

Bubbles was entranced by the scene. _There's just no way a boy that cute could move like that! That would have caught one of us for sure!_

After the roll, the boy swept Fuzzy to the ground. "Too slow, Pinky." He teased as he Jumped into a flip and brought to bare with a vicious ax kick. "Now be a good boy and take a nice nap!"

Fuzzy didn't stand a chance. No one in the whole of Townsville had close to that level of skill in a fight. The girls could only stare and watch the boy dismiss Fuzzy as a threat all together and then...

"Who the hell can Jump across the Highway!" Blossom fumed at the way the kid feigned ignorance of his own showboating.

"I can't believe how cute he is!" Bubbles had a dreamy expression on her face.

"We should get back to school," Blossom reminded the other two, "We should be able to make it back in time for the second half of lunch."

As they flew back to school, neither Blossom or Bubbles noticed the dark blush and far off look in Buttercup's eyes. Nor did any of the girls notice a pair of eyes track them in the sky as they flew off.

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Genma was proud of his son. Regardless of his complaint, he knew that Ranma was looking forward to testing his skill against this monster of an opponent. He looked up in time to see three colored stripes come to a halt as his son engaged the pink thing in a good old fashioned round of fisty cuffs. He grinned.

_I wish we could have joined the schools with our children, Soun, but this was just too good to pass up._ Genma thought with a tear in his eye._ Ranma will just have to get use to the fact that his firstborn child is already engaged. My son's manliness will overwhelm at least one of those girls and we will have the ultimate bloodline for our school!_

"Yo, pops, if you keep doing that the police will arrest you for public ugliness!" Genma's smile turned to a frown.

_Well, it looks like Ranma is done with his fight already. Good boy, at least two of those girls looks infatuated._ "That took much longer than I expected, Boy!" Genma knew that at some point he should start complementing his son, but it was just too much fun and Ranma always seemed to do better when being harassed.

"Stuff it, pops," Ranma said snidely, "That was a flawless victory and you know it."

"A true martial artist would have ended that fight in the first blow, not the second!"

"The 'first blow' was nothing more than a projectile attack from you! My kick was the first real attack I threw!"

"Boy, just get in the taxi, we have somewhere to go!" Genma barked out.

"What training ground could this place have that is so important that it can't wait a few days of relaxing?"

"You misunderstand, boy, I have a new high paying job" Genma said with an air of superiority. Hell, if he could just work up a small fortune and hitch Ranma up to one of these Power Puffs, he just might get to see his lovely wife again in this lifetime.

"You with a real job? This I got to see!" Ranma laughed.

"Boy, I'll have you know that I will be working with the best mind in the world as his lab assistant." Genma chided his son. "He had need of a man with pinpoint accuracy with his hands, and able to possibly take high levels of physical abuse. I called and got the job on a trial basis. He says if I'm cut out for the job that it'll become a permanent position."

"Yeah? And where will we be living during this time? I don't think it's legal to camp in an American city, and I know you blew the last of the money on plane tickets."

"Boy, don't you know by now that I think of everything?" Genma smiled as the sun glinted off his glasses. "We'll be living with the very same person I'll be working for; Professor Utonium!"

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**AN:** Yo what's up? Honestly this is my first story ever, and I'm kind of excited. I've had this Idea since I first read Puff Puff and Away. Note that I am unsure if this is a Divergence or an AU, considering the split occurs before the beginning of the manga, but after the start of the cannon story. Before some people start complaining about Ranma's power level, just remember that he was faster than a blink right from the beginning. His skill never really got that much higher other than a few new tricks that he picked up over time. He is also able to do things such as using his fingers as scissors and other various feats that the Puffs were never able to do. Other than that, Comment as much as you want. Flames will be used to heat my apartment as heating is expensive and inefficient here in Japan.


	2. Settling In

**Disclaimer:** This is the last warning that I own neither of the series portrayed.

**Clashing Colors**

Ch.2 – Settling In

The girls' minds were racing as they recalled the events of lunchtime while flying home at a sedate pace. Blossom was a little miffed that some stranger showed up and ended the fight faster than the girls combined had in the past. Well, except for that time Bubbles lost some of her hair to that meat ray. Bubbles was trying to figure out where such an amazing person had come from. She thought she knew of every cute boy in a thousand mile radius. Buttercup on the other hand was oddly quiet since the chance encounter.

When they had gotten back to the school, with the exception of the quiet Buttercup, they had discussed the mystery boy with their friends. The Ruffs took the info mostly in stride save for Butch who was sure that such a victory had been a fluke. He also seemed to be a little pissed at the effect this stranger had on Buttercup, but never voiced such an opinion.

"Girls, we need to talk to Dad about this kid." Blossom was playing the suspicious party to a tee. "We've never even heard of a normal person able to do that kind of fighting before, much less jumping over the highway. We may have another chemical X experiment to deal with here."

"Give it a rest, Blossom. For all we know he could be a long lost son of Bruce Lee. Besides, haven't you noticed how quiet B-cup has been since we saw the cute boy kick ass?" Bubbles countered, knowing full well what was coming up with the use of Buttercup's most hated nickname.

"Don't call me B-cup!"

"Welcome back to the land of the conscious, sis." Bubbles giggled. "You've been ignoring everyone since the incident at the airport." A small grin grew on her face as she noticed the confused look on her sister's face. "Did that cute boy get you all weak in the knees?"

Buttercup's blush grew back in full force. "I thought we weren't talking about my love life anymore." She managed to squeak out. "Besides, you were looking just as hard as I was... I think."

"So? It was an enjoyable view, you can't deny that."

"I guess." Buttercup finished lamely.

"Guys, haven't you been listening to a thing I've been saying?" Blossom cut in, annoyed at being dismissed so lightly. "We need to find information on that boy!"

Bubbles smile became even brighter. "I'll say!" She turned back to Buttercup, "Maybe we'll be able to solve the riddle of Buttercup's loveless life!"

"Argh!" Buttercup was beyond mortified at that remark. "Look, we'll see if Dad can find anything out on the kid, but leave me out of your scheming, Bubbles. I have enough problems dealing with my love life without your help. The last thing I want is a new boy that thinks I'm so desperate that my sister has to help with everything outside of fighting!"

"All you have to do is show him that you have a soft side and he'll be all over you." Bubbles couldn't help herself. It was a rare occasion that left Buttercup so flustered.

It wasn't long before they reached home and landed outside the door, Buttercup with a huff of annoyance. "Look, Bubbles, just drop it. I'm loosing my patience. I just want to go inside, unwind in the training room and play some video games to clear my head." She stomped up to the door and swung it open only to slam it shut as fast as she could, face lit up like a neon light. Her sisters looked at her confused.

"What was that all about?" Blossom asked.

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After a few hours trip to, and through, the large city of Townsville, the Saotomes finally reached a large house in the suburbs of the city. The house was the largest Ranma had ever seen. There were three large windows on one side of the house spaced a decent distance from each other, and it looked like there was a pool in the back. _Just great, a ready supply of cold water._

"Well," Genma grew a greedy smile, "If this is how the professor lives, I'm sure I'll just have to prove that I'm the perfect guy for the job!" Ranma was sure he saw money signs in his father's eyes, though it may have just been a trick with the light.

"Pops," Ranma said with no small hint of disbelief as he climbed out of the cab, "I doubt the job includes stealing, lying and or sleeping." He was cut off of using anymore of what he considered his finely tuned wits as their packs were unceremoniously dumped on him.

"Quiet, boy," grunted Genma, "I don't want you to blow this opportunity for me. With a chance like this, you may not only become the best martial artist in the world..." He took the time to change into his one good suit(Al-la Anything Goes MA speed changing technique). He landed with a flourish and, with a sigh, slowly removed his cherished bandanna. "But also the most talented mind as well." He straitened up to his full height, and with a little nervousness rang the doorbell.

The man that answered the door had not been what Ranma was expecting, especially from someone that would hire his dad. He had an aura of refinement surrounding him. He had expected a man with craze hair and gadgets all over. Something like those quacks that were in every movie he'd had a chance to see. This man, however, stood tall and strait with shoulders firmly squared up. He held one arm behind his back while the other perfectly held a little black pipe that he subconsciously puffed on. That, and he still had a full black head of groomed hair. He noticed his father's slightly jealous look.

"Ah, you must be the new lab assistant. Allow me to introduce myself." The man said in a voice that made Ranma feel intelligently stunted from just hearing it. He held out his hand for Genma to take before he continued. "Professor Utonium, leading physicist, chemist and rocket scientist, among a few others."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Sen, I mean, Professor." Genma was feeling a little pressure. He was sure he had almost slipped back to using his Japanese.

"Ah, no need to worry." The man chuckled. "If you feel more comfortable using your Japanese pronouns, then by all means proceed."

"Ah, yes, sorry." Genma felt maybe a little like an ass. "At any rate, I am Genma Saotome, and this young man is my son, Ranma." He finished while gesturing towards his son.

"Oh my, where are my manners!" Professor said in shock at Ranma carrying two very heavy packs. "Please come in and get settled, I'm sure we have plenty to discuss." He took a step back to allow access to his home.

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"And this is the training room." Professor stated with pride at the end of the tour.

This piqued Ranma's interest. He was a little curious about the lack of any real training equipment, though. "Uh, it looks empty to me, Sensei."

"Ah, of course." The man lightly smacked his own forehead. "The controls are right over here." He swept his arm in an arc, pointing out the panel. "This device populates the room with anything from basic training equipment to AI controlled opponents of any design and number. As I recall, Mr. Saotome-"

"Please, Sensei, I'll be your assistant. Please call me Genma" Genma said with a show of humility. _Gotta get his respect. If he respects me, he'll feel more comfortable with my son courting one of his daughters._

"Ah, of course." Professor said with a smile playing on his lips. "As I recall, Genma, you said that you trained your son as a martial artist."

"Yes," Genma stood a little taller, "I have been training my son for quite some time now. I daresay he is the number one fighter in his generation."

Utonium's Smile grew as he turned towards Ranma. "Would you care to give it a try, young man? I'm sure that with your skill level some of the lighter courses may just be to your liking."

Ranma immediately perked up. "Sure! I just stand down there, right?" He asked pointing to the center of the room below.

"Yes, indeed."

"Sounds like fun." Ranma said as he stripped off his shirt, popped his neck and stretched on his way down to the room.

"Are you ready, Ranma?"

"Show me what this tin can can do!"

"Very well" The Professor said into the mic before turning to Genma. "What would you suggest? I believe a low level gang member to test the waters."

"Hmm, I believe level 2 might do the trick to figure a base challenge for my boy, Sensei."

"Very well." The Professor face turned to concentration and interest as he selected the gang setting and spun the dial to level two.

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Ranma was pleasantly surprised to see the room shift form to that of an abandoned warehouse. _Well, this is going to be interesting._ His smile grew as two thugs, one with a chain and the other with a long pipe, strutted up towards him.

"You look a little lost, Hommie" Thug one grinned.

"Maybe we should help you to the door." Thug two started to spin his chain.

"Child's play." These two words started the pain that the thugs, if they'd been real, felt their world become.

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"I guess you weren't stretching the truth when you said he was very skilled." The Professor was awe stricken.

Genma's eyeglasses gleamed in the light. "How high does the level go to, Sensei?"

"It goes to eleven." The Professor stated absently from his chair as he watched Ranma skillfully dismantle the holograms. "Each level is twice as difficult as all the previous levels combined." He was so transfixed he didn't notice Genma's close proximity to the device. He didn't notice the knob turn to eleven, either.

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Ranma had just finished slamming Thug One into the ground with the chain supplied by unconscious Thug Two, when he started to hear some derisive clapping. He looked up to the catwalk and noticed a man in a duster with a scar across one eye and an eye-patch over the other. He also noticed the dozens of other thugs flanking the man.

"Very good, mister Saotome," The clapping stopped as he pulled out a katana, "but I'm afraid the fun ends here." He licked the edge of his blade before walking towards a door at the back of the catwalk. "I'm sure my men are more than a match for you. If not, well I'm sure I can clean up any mess they leave behind." He winked at Ranma before walking through the door.

"That just made me feel unclean." Ranma shivered before noticing the countless thugs that now surrounded him. _Man, if this is low level gang, I just may have some fun!_ "Alright," Ranma said as he picked up Thug One's long pipe and started to spin Thug Two's chain, "Are you sure you want to do this? It won't be fair unless each of you got a friend or two to party with." Ranma's cocky grin was in full bloom and his confidence started to dance around him, the blue light flooding the warehouse.

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The pipe fell from the Professor's lips"How on earth is he doing that?"

"What?" Genma said innocently. "Oh that's just him showing off, really. Any martial artist worth his salt can do that. It clearly gives off your intent and position, so it's only useful to frighten you opponents." Genma's smile grew as he watched the Professor switch from watching the battle unfold, to the data recorders, and back again.

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Ranma was having the time of his life, even if he was starting to get winded. He was sporting a few bumps from were he got tagged unexpectedly. _Man, how many are there! It's like every putz I knock down is replaced with a fresh one. _He caught it out of the corner of his eye. One of the side doors opened to reveal a new wave of thugs. _Well, looks like I may have to just block the source._ His aura flared once again and the thugs took a step back. He took the moment to start bending the shorter pipes into u shapes. "Look, I'm glad you guys took me up on the offer to invite your friends, but I've got larger fish to fry!"

Ranma started kicking up the longer pipes and, using his years of training, let loose with his improvised ammo. Each of the long pipes was stapled with dull thuds across the doors, effectively cutting off reinforcements. The thugs were stunned. "Well, no one ever said I wasn't worried about cleaning my messes. Looks like there's still some trash lying around." He grinned, a feral gleam in his eye. "Time to clean house!"

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"Simply amazing!" The Professor's eyes lit up and he turned briefly to Genma. "You taught him this?" At Genma's nod, Utonium grew a big smile. "Well my friend, I just may have another job for you as well... Wait, this is level eleven!"

"So it is. I thought the boy needed a decent challenge if he was going to show you some of what he is truly capable."

"That's impossible! Not even Buttercup does anything above ten!"

"Buttercup?" _That's it, just a little more._

"Yes, one of my daughters. She's the highest level fighter of her sisters. She would never dare do anything on this level without her sisters' help."

It took everything to suppress his growing grin. "Sisters? How strong could girls be? It would be a little reckless to even have your daughters on low level gang." _The bait is right there, come to poppa._

"Oh, excuse me, you may not have known." Professor's smile returned. _If I can get Genma here to train my girls, or maybe allow Ranma to help them in training... _"My girls are a little more special. You see, they are kind of super heroes. They are known here as the Power Puff Girls. Though I can scarcely imagine them with this level of skill combined with their powers. Say, would you consider having Ranma here train with my girls?" Genma's glasses glimmered in the light.

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Ranma had just finished hog-tying the head clown to the catwalk like a human pinata when the room shifted back to the basic training room, white walls and population Ranma. "Aw, man. It was just starting to get interesting."

"Very well done, Ranma." Professor's voice rang out over the PA. "I'm surprised at your level of skill."

"Really? It wasn't too bad, I guess. If that was a low level gang, I want to try out a high level gang next!" Sure, maybe he was a little winded, but if that was all for a low level experience he was sure he could take maybe two levels up no problem.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Ranma." The Professor chuckled.

"Huh? Why's that, Sensei?"

"Well, you see, Ranma," The Professor started as he opened the door to let Ranma out of the facility, "that was actually the highest level gang fight programed into the machine. However, I'm sure that there are other more challenging scenarios for you to try out at a later time."

"Cool!"

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Professor and the Saotomes were sitting in the kitchen. Ranma had a sweat towel around his shoulders as he was drinking from a bottle of water.

"And that was when we first laid eyes on the accursed training grounds known as Jusenkyo." Genma was spinning a tale full of bravery and hardship, with the Professor hanging on every word and Ranma rolling his eyes.

The Professor looked at the clock as it chimed and smiled. "Ah, school should be out soon."

Ranma look at him thoughtfully. _Oh, that's right. There was a picture of him and three kids. I hope that boy is fun to hang out with. I might even teach him a thing or two. Like my own little brother I've always wanted! _Genma and Professor looked at him a little worried as he started to laugh a little maniacally.

Just then the front door opened up. Ranma looked up to see who it was. He was surprised to see the little boy from the picture at the front door, but ultimately confused when said boy slammed the door shut without coming in.

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"What was that all about?" Blossom asked.

_Ohmygodohmygodmygodmygodmygod! _Buttercup started hyperventilating, her face red as a lobster. Bubbles became a little worried.

"What's up, sis?"

"Sh-sh-shirtless."

"Dad?" It wasn't unusual, but Blossom was confused. She walked up to the door and opened it up a crack. "Dad! Are you decent in there!"

"Of course, sweetie. Is something wrong?"

She opened the door the rest of the way, and became shell-shocked at the sight that awaited her. It seemed that the mystery boy and a bald man in a nice suit were in their home. The boy was shirtless, and apparently enjoying a bottle of refreshing water. "Dad, be careful, that boy is dangerous!" She came in ready to fight. "He took out Fuzzy in one second flat!"

"I believe you." The Professor said as if he were commenting on the weather. "He was able to do the gang scenario on level eleven."

"You're kidding!" Squealed Bubbles as she bound in dragging Buttercup behind her. "That's amazing!"

Ranma looked up from his bottle. "It was nothing. I was a little surprised at first, but it wasn't nothin' I couldn't handle." He said with a smirk.

"Ah, girls, let me introduce our guests!" The Professor started grinning. "These are the Saotomes, Genma and Ranma." Each bowing at the mention of their name. "They just ended a years long martial arts training trip in China. Mr. Saotome has just offered to fill my needs as a lab assistant and they will be staying with us for the foreseeable future."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Genma said with the oil of a salesmen. "You seem to be about my son's age, maybe you could take some time to show him around Townsville sometime."

"Likewise." Ranma said as he got up and walked over to Buttercup with a look of interest on his face. This got Bubbles grinning like the cat that got the canary. He looked at her for a few seconds before looking to Bubbles. "Is your little brother okay?" He missed the fading smile of the taller sister. "He looks like he has a fever or something."

Buttercup's world came crashing down around her. _Little BROTHER? _Her face screwed up in anger, and, before Ranma had time to react, her fist collided with his jaw in a spectacular K.O. He was sent flying through the back windows and landed with a resounding splash in the pool. Genma palmed his face.

Buttercup stalked to the pool to lay the fool to rest, but stopped dead in her tracks. She got an eyeful of pink flesh in the form of a tiny redhead with D-cups that floated to the top of the pool. Buttercup's knees went weak. Her head became fuzzy. Her nose began to bleed. The floor felt very nice.

"Buttercup!" Was all she heard before she blacked out completely.

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**AN: ** I was just too darned excited to continue this as the story just kept playing in my mind. Sorry for the rating increase, but I realized that with Buttercup's condition her mind will tend to wander. That, and Ranma tends to be a little unconcerned about nudity. The story is more like a middle road of T and M... with a little more of the M tenancies.


	3. Getting the Bearings Straight

**Pre-notes:**

**Nysk: **Of course it's obvious. Notice the romance genre and the main characters.

**DLofB: **It is never stated that Ranma's girl form is faster in the manga. It is smaller and often puts him at extreme disadvantages during his more dangerous opponents. He will still learn many of the techniques he knew from cannon as a lot of his troubles found their way to him.

**Clashing Colors  
**

Ch.3 – Getting the Bearings Straight

Buttercup floated downstairs to the kitchen to make herself a light snack. She looked at the clock and noticed it read 10:30 as she passed. _Huh, where is everyone? _As she was passing the glass door that led to the pool she noticed a light glow coming from the door. _What could that be?_ She opened the door and peered outside. Someone was swimming in the pool. _Now_ w_ho could be swimming at this time of night?_

As she approached the pool a head of vibrant red hair surfaced from the water. A girl turned around and smiled at her. It melted her insides. It was a small Asian girl, probably the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. The girl waved her over. When she was floating over the girl, two tiny hands reached up and pulled her down into the pool.

"I've been waiting for you." The girl said with eyes full of lust. Buttercup gulped nervously as she felt the smaller girl's hands roam her back. She couldn't suppress the shiver that went up her spine, and almost passed out as the girl's full lips parted her own in a passionate kiss.

"Who are you?" She pleaded. She then became painfully aware of the smaller girl's nakedness as her hand was guided to cup an impossibly large breast.

"I'm all yours, of course." Came the soft, sultry reply into her ear, eliciting another shiver.

"Wait," She gasped out, "I'm not ready for this."

"Oh?" The vixen giggled as she felt one of the small hands move lower to caress her own bare posterior. "Then whey would you come to us in such a state?"

"Us?" She questioned as she felt a much larger body move up and spoon her from behind. It was hard and well muscled. Sparks were shooting up her spine. She turned her head to see the boy that had been plaguing her mind, Ranma.

"What took you so long." His deep voice rumbled in her head as he nuzzled her neck and place small kisses along her jaw. She could not stop the sounds of pleasure that escaped her. She felt something hot resting along her rear and lower spine.

"You're going to enjoy this, our little Buttercup" The girl said before her lips were captured in another kiss. Her body was on fire from the sensation of the girl's body rubbing on her own, and the boy stroking her sides while placing small kisses along her neck.

"Yes you will, our little Buttercup." His deep voice came again.

"Buttercup?" _That's odd. _The haze started to lift from her mind._ That sounded almost like Blossom._ "Buttercup? Buttercup!"

Buttercup's eyes snapped open.

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Professor was gaping at the scene in front of him. He shook his head and tried to take stock of the situation. _Okay, in order... Buttercup was angered and assisted Ranma through the back sliding glass door. _He looked to the unconscious girl in the pool. _He landed in the pool and turned into a girl? _His eyes fell to his daughter. _And my baby girl passes out in shock. _He slowly turned to Genma. "I suppose you were just getting to this in your story, yes?"

Genma chuckled slowly. "Yes, of course, Sensei." He cleared his throat before continuing. "You see, as I was saying before your beautiful daughters came home, Ranma and I arrived at a cursed training ground while in the wilderness of China, named Jusenkyo or Pools of Sorrow." He cleared his throat as he approached the pool. "I thought it was a foolish title, but it was legendary nonetheless." Genma grabbed the pool net and started to fish his son out of the pool before she drowned. _Can't have super babies if you're dead, boy. _"Unfortunately, as you can see, the curses are very real. Each pool of water in the training grounds is cursed with the form of what drowned there to create the curse. My son had the misfortune of landing in the pool of drowned girl."

The Professor nodded. "And You?"

"The pool of drowned panda."

"I see..." The tall man brought his pipe to his lips and took a rather long drag.

"Genma, how exactly is this curse activated?"

"Cold water and hot water will change us to our cursed and uncursed forms," Genma sighed, "respectively, Sensei." He pulled Ranma from the pool staying as dry as possible.

"That. Is. So. Cool!" Was the last thing he expected to hear from his new boss on such a strange topic. Something more like 'To the lab!' or 'Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pass out now.'

"Sensei?"

"I mean, think of it. Many people speculate on the effects of different cranial physiology to the psychology of anyone or thing. Now you and Ranma here can help in that field of study." He stared on at Ranma in interest before being pulled back into the house by a furious Blossom.

"Dad, stop staring at the half naked girl!" She growled.

"Oh, of course, how silly of me. Bubbles, go fetch Ranma's shirt from the training room." He turned from his giggling daughter to his red faced one. "And Blossom? Could you please take Buttercup up to her room?"

There was a chorus of, "Yes, Dad," as the girls took to their tasks.

"Alright, Genma," the Professor smiled as he was handed the shirt by Bubbles, "Let's see about setting Ranma here down on his own bed. Bubbles?"

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"Ugh, did I lose to the training program?" The first thing that Ranma noticed when she regained consciousness was the lack of male parts, mainly due to her higher voice. She was surprised to get an answer from someone, much less one of the Professor's girls.

"Not exactly." Bubbles said as she handed the cringing girl a glass of water and aspirin, which she gladly took. "It was more like a double knockout with a higher pair." She giggled at her own joke.

"Huh?" Came Ranma's intelligent reply. "What do you mean? I don't remember anything beyond asking if your little brother was alright."

"And that was your mistake, Ranma." She cocked her head slightly trying to figure out how to explain this. "You see, my sisters and I are all the same age. As in neither of us are older or younger. You see, Buttercup isn't my little brother, she's my fraternal sister."

"Oh!" Ranma's eyebrows shot up. She scratched her head as her eyes screwed up in concentration. "So what happened after that? I don't remember. All I come up with is black."

Bubbles giggled lightly at Ranma's antics. _Sis, I think we have the answer to your problem._ "That one's easy. You got knocked out by her after you accidentally called her a boy. She is a little sensitive about her underdeveloped body. You landed in the pool and she passed out after seeing your large breasts. You really should apologize to her, Ranma."

"What, why!" Ranma sat up fast, a little outraged, and completely missing the comment about her massive mammary. "I didn't do nuthin' wrong!"

"Ranma, you insulted her, at least let her know you didn't mean it."

"All right, fine!" Ranma pouted as she crossed her arms. Bubbles eyes lit up, and before she knew what was happening, Ranma was dangling in the air.

"Oh my god! You're so cute when you pout." She stopped after a second when she noticed Ranma was dizzy. "Oops, I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself" She sat Ranma back down, and giggled as she noticed how short the other girl really was. _If I have my way, Buttercup may just get to play the roll of boyfriend and girlfriend._

"S'okay." Ranma said a little drunkenly as she stumbled for the door.

"Oh, I'm Bubbles by the way."

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Blossom was sitting next to her smallest sister waiting for her to come around. She had taken care of Buttercup's bloody nose and settled into her bed. Her thoughts wondered to the 'mystery boy' she just had the pleasure of meeting. His father seemed like an alright sort, but the boy seemed very tactless. _I can't believe he said that to Buttercup, the jerk._ Well, maybe he wasn't that bad, he did try to introduce himself properly. Still, she was protective of her sisters, and was NOT going to let it slide that easily.

"Mmm." She looked down to see Buttercup start to shift around. _Well, she seems to be coming around._ She smiled.

"Ahn." Buttercup started to arch her back and wiggle around. The myriad of sounds coming from her heated up Blossom's face. _What on Earth? What are you doing._ She started to worry when Buttercup started to buck her hips slightly.

"Buttercup?"

"Hn?"

"Buttercup? Buttercup!"

Buttercup's eyes snapped open. "Sis?" Her face was flushed with the fresh memories of the most erotic dream she had ever had. She pulled her blanket up to cover her face when she noticed where she was.

"Are you okay?"

"Y, yeah." Her voice cracked slightly. "Why?"

"Well, you just passed out from seeing too much girl flesh." Blossom ticked off on her finger. "Then you started to moan in your sleep." Buttercup buried her face into her blanket as she remembered the girl from her dream. "Now you look quite flustered." She pulled the blanket down a little so she could see her sister's eyes. "Do you want to talk about it? Sounds like you had quite the dream." Buttercup shook her head. "Are you sure? You should, it's not healthy to keep it all bottled up, Sis."

Buttercup looked a little uncertain before taking a deep, calming breath. "It was weird. I've never had a dream like that before. It felt so real." Her blush started to deepen again. "It started out in the house. I didn't even notice anything different until I found someone in the pool." She took another deep breath. "It was an Asian girl with red hair. The most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. She said she had been waiting for me, and wanted me to join her in the pool." Buttercup didn't realize it, but Blossom's eyebrows shot up in understanding. "She started touching and kissing me. She was naked."

Blossom's face started to flush but she urged her sister to continue. "Is that when you woke up?"

"No, not y, yet." Buttercup pulled the covers back over her head. "I noticed that I was naked too, and it wasn't just the two of us. Ranma was there, too." Blossom almost missed the next thing she said because of how soft it was. "I felt his thing on my back."

There was a knock at the door. Both girls looked up in shock to see a blushing Bubbles with her hand covering her mouth and one of her arms stretched out from knocking on the open door. Buttercup noticed a small red-haired Asian girl, literally the girl of her dream, standing next to her sister. Her face was bright red and her mouth was hanging wide open.

"A, Ah, s,sorry." Ranma shakily backed out of the room. "I'll be in the cold shower if anyone needs me." She stumbled into the door frame before wobbling down the hall and out of view.

Blossom could only follow Bubbles' lead and covered her opened mouth to try and hide her shocked expression. "Bubbles, how long were you guys standing there?"

Bubbles closed the door lightly and made her way to her sister's bed. "Um, I think at the part of the most beautiful girl Buttercup had ever seen." She snapped her fingers in front of Buttercup's unmoving face. "Ranma was trying to say she was sorry about before I think."

_Okay, so maybe I won't be too hard on him. _Blossom felt horrible for urging her sister into probably one of the most embarrassing situations she had ever been in. While Buttercup didn't realize it, she had just described herself in a racy position with both of Ranma's forms.

"Wait, who was that?" Buttercup looked between both of her sisters.

_Hoo boy, this is going to take a while._ The taller sisters thought in tandem.

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Ranma had finished his shower and was trying to find something on the TV to keep himself amused (trying to keep his mind out of the gutter). _I can't believe what I heard. I mean, I know I'm all that is man, but I never thought I attracted girls as a girl, too. _It didn't take long before his ego started to stroke itself. _Heh, guess I am just too much man for just one body._ His thoughts were cut short as a school bag landed painfully in his lap.

"Boy, stop that girlish giggling and listen up!" Ranma glared at his father. "We'll be living here for a long while, so you'll have to start attending school here."

"What? That ain't fair, don't I have a say in this?" Ranma was outraged. Sure, his father made him do self study when they were traveling, but he figured he'd been doing fine up until then.

"No, you don't, boy." Genma stood up to his full height and looked down at Ranma as menacingly as he could. "There are three good reasons for this, boy. The first is so that you can get better than a self taught education." He relaxed a little. "That, and Sensei has taken the time already to set you up at the high school the girls attend. Something about being good friends with the person in charge." _And the third reason is that it's halfway across the city, so the girls will have to carry you everyday. _Genma turned and walked out of the room, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Wait, what's the third reason!" He shouted. When he got no reply he huffed and crossed his arms. _Stupid pops. I don't need high school,I can do fine on my own._

"Don't worry, Ranma m'boy." Ranma noticed the Professor walking into the room. "Everything will be fine. I'm sure that with the help of my daughters you'll fit in just fine." He sat down next to Ranma and put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "A good education is very important to life, and if you find yourself having problems, my daughters are all tops of their classes." He leaned back in his seat and took a puff from his pipe. "Besides, I'm really good friends with Dean Keane. She was the girl's preschool teacher before the building received massive funding. She's very excited to meet this boy that will be staying with her favorite little girls."

Ranma sighed. He couldn't be mad with the Professor, he was just trying to help after all. "It's all right. Just wish I'd have had more of a warning." He smiled lightly. "I guess it might be kinda fun. I've never been to a school outside Japan" He pumped his arm lightly. "I hear you don't have to wear a uniform!"

The Professor chuckled as he stood. "That's the spirit, my boy! I'll have one of the girls give you a lift to school in the morning." Professor Utonium left the room with a smile on his face leaving a happier Ranma behind.

_They can already drive? Cool! You can't do that until you're eighteen back in Japan!_ Ranma's smile faded into shock as a cold splash of water relieve her of her manhood for the second time that day. She turned around slowly and mechanically to see Coffeecup, or whatever her name was, staring at her with empty cup in hand and neutral expression on her face. Her gaze softened into a half lidded stare that Ranma could not identify.

Buttercup leaned in close, maybe a little too close. Ranma could almost feel their lips touching. She raised her hand and stroked Ranma's cheek softly. "Y'know, you make a pretty cute girl." And with that she floated back up to the second floor. She turned back to Ranma, stuck her tongue out and winked. "There, now we're even." She floated off and disappeared from Ranma's view, leaving the smaller girl flustered.

_What the heck just happened? Wait, did she just fly?_

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**AN:** Hey hey. Just got finished putting the finishing touches on the chapter. Sorry if there are some mistakes I missed this chapter, as I WAS trying to go over it with a fine combed tooth, but I had to get ready to prepare my classroom. Any who, I really enjoyed writing this chapter as it really helped set the tone for the interactions between the Puffs and Ranma. Remember that Ranma has no Idea of any engagements, so there is no pressure for him to get together with any of the girls. Also for those that will complain about Ranma watching TV; Ranma is a very lazy person. He is seen constantly reading manga and playing games in the manga. He is also not sexually obtuse. He was just never in a position to act on anything right from the start. Finally, review. It makes my inner me happy.


	4. Schoolhouse Rocked

**Prenotes**

**DloB: **I wouldn't count on Ranma constantly falling asleep in class. He is more likely to hide a manga behind his schoolbook or sneak snacks.

**Cabrera1243: **That is not likely to happen as this is planned to be a really long fic... not that I'm making a promise there. Just that I'm using it a way to look busy at work, lol.

**Nightmaster: **I try to stay away from the term NWC. At any rate, most of Ranma's problems followed him in the manga. It would be a fair assumption to say that they still will in this fic. As for using characters from an online comic, it won't happen. This isn't a rip-off of a rip-off. Just a rip-off :p

**EveryoneElse: **Thanks for the support.

**Clashing Colors**

Ch.4 - Schoolhouse Rocked

Buttercup was jolted awake by the sounds of a life and death battle right next to the house. Her alarm read 5:30am. She normally slept for another forty-five minutes before even thinking about crushing her alarm for five more. She grumbled as she got up, cursed as she flew into the wall while aiming for the window, and was finally shocked by what she saw happening near the poolside.

Ranma was deadlocked in a grapple hold with his father. Neither the son nor the father had the advantage. They jumped apart for mere moments before reengaging the duel. Every blow was either blocked, dodged or countered. It was unlike anything Buttercup had ever seen before. Genma threw a high left punch which Ranma caught with ease and attempted to counter with a right side kick while pulling his fathers captured arm. It was beautiful. Just before Ranma could connect, his father threw in his own counter by jumping over his sons kick and leading in with his right knee towards his son's face, using Ranma's pull against himself. It forced Ranma to abandon his attack while flipping back to avoid taking the damage.

"They've been doing this for about half an hour now." She barely made out Blossom's voice over the shouts. Buttercup looked to her side and noticed both of her sisters already dressed for school.

"Huh?" Buttercup managed to grunt while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Yeah, it's amazing. You should see them practically float in the air when the start in with their jump kicks." Bubbles was already her giggly self too early Buttercup honestly thought.

The fight resumed as both combatants jumped high above the pool and started to use each others attacks to stay afloat while looking for an advantage. Both knew that one or both of them had to sink by the end of this exchange and the duel would be over. Genma grinned as he saw the new spectator and waited for his chance to strike.

"Aw, man." Buttercup moaned in a show of disappointment feigning disinterest after watching the two hang in the air for a few moments. "I thought someone was attacking." She stretched to her fullest with a long yawn. Genma's eyeglasses shone in the morning light.

"Stop!" He bellowed as loud as he could and jabbed with his left hand ending in a finger pointing towards the smallest of the Utoniums. He knew it was cheating a little as Ranma had no defense for one of his sealed mountain techniques. Neither did Buttercup as her body went rigid, capturing her in her stretched pose with her eyes wide open. "Look!" Ranma couldn't help but to follow the command as his eyes involuntarily locked on to Buttercup, her pose... and her clothing.

While her sisters had taken the time to get ready for the day before coming out to see the spar, Buttercup had jumped through the window as soon as she could put two words together, intent on putting a stop to whoever was attacking. Granted she had no chest, but it didn't matter when all she was wearing was a tight pajama top and her bikini cut underwear, both vibrant green. Ranma's eyes bugged out and he lost all higher brain function.

_Perfect! Now to rub salt in the wound!_ "What's the matter, Boy? Something got your eye that you can't concentrate on your opponent?"He grabbed the front of Ranma's Gi and started to spin him towards the pool. _And maybe boost the small one's feminine confidence. After all, all any girl needs is the confidence and the boy would be wrapped around their little fingers._ Genma chuckled. "Well, if that's all it takes to distract you from our battles maybe I should ask her to walk around like that whenever we spar." He started to boast as he released his son towards the pool and flung himself for the side of it. "Either you get better concentration or you may as well stay a girl!" He laughed with his belly as he landed safely and his son belly smacked then sank to the bottom of the pool. He turned and started for the house. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must get ready for..!" Whatever Genma was going to say next was cut short as his son turned daughter grabbed the back collar to his Gi and tossed him into the pool he had only just avoided.

"You should have made a run for it when you had the chance, you stupid panda!" She dusted her hands in a deliberate show while marching to the door with her confident jock smirk mark one in place. She turned towards Buttercup who was just starting to get her bearings after being put on display by one of the new house guests. "Ah, sorry. You know, for, um, staring at you." Ranma said the last part in a small voice as she turned her head away to hide her blush. She still had some mental images from the small part of Buttercup's dream she had heard the night before. Buttercup gave a small nod before curling up into a ball, burying her face in her knees and floating back to her room. Maybe she had better start wearing more to sleep in if there was going to be a boy living with them.

Genma surfaced to watched the exchange before he felt a chill go up his spine. His eyes narrowed as he looked to where he was getting a sense of danger, only to see the blonde girl, Bubbles, eying him with big eyes and smile. He tried his hardest to vacate the pool and make a dash for some hot water only to be plucked up before he could reach the edge of the pool.

"Oh my god, you're so cute!" He could only barely make out Blossom's laughter as he was spun around like an oversized teddy bear high in the air.

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Twenty minutes later Buttercup managed to coax herself out of the bathroom. She had been ready for the last five minutes but just couldn't bring herself to be near Ranma at that moment. She made her way down to the kitchen to get some breakfast so she would be ready for the day. It was odd to see the two guests filling in the space. It felt a little like her family had grown. It made her feel good, so much so that she had already forgotten her sleep caused embarrassment. She sat down between her sisters after pouring herself a bowl of cereal. While eating she listened in to what the Professor was saying to Ranma. Her smile did not go unnoticed by her sisters.

"When your father showed me the textbooks you had been studying, I took the time to look into the level of each of the subjects you were taking. Genma, if you would." Genma pulled a sheet of paper from his lab coat. Ranma still couldn't get over his dad looking semi-smart. "You are still on schedule as far as the American education system is concerned. You are considered a sophomore in high school, which would be equivalent to a first year high school student in Japan." He handed Ranma the sheet of paper. "This is your daily schedule and class assignments. You'll be in the standard grade ten English and science. Your mathematics was surprisingly low, so you will be in a basic class until you can catch up with your peers and enter into algebra. I'm sure one of my girls will be more than happy to help." Buttercup scowled at Bubbles for forcing her hand up. "I'm afraid you'll have to take the beginner gym course, as it is required for all students to participate at least one year in physical education. As for your open elective class, your father insisted that you take astronomy."

Ranma grumbled at the mention on his math skills. How were fractions and multiplication suppose to help him kick ass and stay on the top. It wasn't like there was martial arts mathematics, right?

"If you have any questions, I'm sure the girls can help you." The professor lit his pipe and started for the lab. Genma stood and followed on the silent queue. "We'll see you kids after school." After the two fathers had left the area the teens gathered their school stuffs and headed out.

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"Alright," Ranma clapped his hands together as he looked around, "who's driving?" He couldn't help but feel excited. That quickly died down as he saw the girls give him an 'are you retarded?' look. "What, did I forget something."

Buttercup smacked her forehead and sighed. "Ranma, you've seen me fly twice." She moaned out as her sisters started to hover about a foot off the ground.

"Huh? But I thought Sensei said I'd be getting a lift from one of you. Don't you have a car or something?" Bubbles started to giggle as she could visibly see the gears stall in Ranma's head.

"I think he meant it more literally than that Ranma." Blossom said as realization dawned on Ranma's face. "We can fly about as easy as you can walk. One of us will have to carry you and it won't be me."

Buttercup started to pale slightly. "What, why not?"

"Brick."

She was about to ask Bubbles next but saw that her flighty sister had already started to leave. She watched as Blossom waved and followed their sister's lead. "Alright, fine!" She grumbled as she shifted her messenger boy and turned her back to Ranma. "Well? Hop on. I'm not waiting all day."

"But I'm a guy. I would look stupid getting a piggy back ride from a girl."

"Alright, the how about this!" She didn't know whether to be angry or pleased at being patronized for being a girl by Ranma. She walked around to his back and hopped on, locking her legs around his waist.

"What are you doing?" Ranma squawked indignantly.

"Look, just grab my legs like you're carrying me. This way I can carry you and you won't look stupid, okay?" She grabbed his hands and place them on her legs before slowly lifting Ranma off the ground. He tightened his grip as his legs left the ground. She would be lying if she said she didn't like the sensation. After she was sure that he was ready she caught up with her sisters as they took off towards the school.

"It'll take about five minutes to reach the school, so don't complain too much." She huffed.

Bubbles nudged Blossom when Buttercup and Ranma had finally caught up. They both started to giggle at the scene. It really did look like Ranma was flying while carrying Buttercup. The blonde sister flew a little closer to the taller one. "If it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure that Ranma wants to date Buttercup."

"Bubbles, she told us not to interfere with her love life, remember." Blossom rolled her eyes. There was almost no stopping Bubbles when she decided to play matchmaker. It's how they knew so much about Buttercup's tastes. Bubbles just kept poking and prodding her until she spilled the beans about her preferences.

"Yeah, but this is too good to pass up. I mean here's a boy that is exactly Buttercup's type. Heck, he even turns into a girl!" Bubbles' shoulders dropped a little when she noticed Her sister shake her head, but ultimately smiled. "Fine, whatever. I'll just make suggestions to Buttercup and be scarce whenever Ranma needs help." She looked back to her smallest sister and awed at the sight. It was as if she had forgotten she was the one flying as her head rested on Ranma's shoulder and her eyes were only half open.

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Even though she was a super hero she couldn't explain it. With Ranma holding her like this she just felt safer than she ever did in her entire life. His hard, muscled back was comforting, and his scent was intoxicating. She felt she could stay like this all day.

"Uh, Buttercup? Your sisters are diving now." And then Ranma would say/do something that would either spoil the mood or embarrass her in ways no one else could.

"Uh, right. I was thinking of something and lost track of where I was." She was glad he couldn't see her face as she started her decent. She had lost herself in his scent and feel. There was no way her sisters would learn of that one.

"You know, that was pretty fun." Ranma said as he lightly turned his head. "I've never flown like that before. You're pretty lucky to be able to do something so cool whenever you want."

"Well, unless you want to wake up extremely early and run to school everyday, you had better get use to it."

"I think I could." He grinned as he struck a superman pose. Buttercup could only laugh at his antics.

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A tall boy watched as the counterparts to his brothers and him started to enter the school grounds. He took out his brush a pulled it through his shoulder length black hair. He stood at 6'3'' as the middle sized brother, and had an extremely muscled frame. He wore a dark green tank top, jean shorts and some combat boots from the local surplus store. He was a skilled fighter even when not using his powers as he had been boxing seriously since the 6th grade. Of his brothers, he was the closest to fully controlling his powers since the villain Him had cursed them and then cast them out on their own. He frowned when he noticed his favorite of the trio looked like she was being carried by some guy. He grinned cruelly as he produced an ice cold water balloon. Time to make the fool look like a sap for even considering touching Buttercup.

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Ranma's feet had just barley touched the ground when his finely tuned sense of danger kicked into overdrive. It was the warning that water was coming right for his head. So he did what his body naturally told him to do. Get something for cover.

Buttercup started to blush as Ranma shifted his body quickly and placed both hands on her hips. She was mildly surprised when he pulled her off of his back in one fluid motion and held her up high. Yeah, it was embarrassing as hell, but she kind of enjoyed the feeling of being weightless under someone else' power. She let out an indignant squawk , however, as she felt something collide with her lower back and drench her in ice cold water. She glared down at Ranma as hard as she could. "What the hell!"

His face took on a serious tone as he looked her dead in the eyes. "It's my first day at school. I don't want to be a girl," he whispered. It wasn't long before he was sent a good thirty feet by a solid kick to his chest, landing is a crumpled heap.

Buttercup turned around slowly. She had a good idea of who threw the balloon. She immediately spotted the culprit, Butch, with his arm still outstretched from the failed attack. "What is wrong with you, Butch? You haven't even met Ranma, and you're already picking on him!"

Butch quickly played off his shock at the oddly executed, but effective, block this Ranma had used. He stood up to his full height and stalked past Buttercup towards the boy that had been assisted to the ground by his favorite puff. "I don't need to meet him. I can already tell that him and I are gonna need to have some words. Why don't you run along to the school. This won't take me long." He said as he lifted the dazed Ranma off the ground by the collar of his shirt.

"Butch, leave him alo..."

"Listen to the idiot, Buttercup." Both super teens were a little shocked at the older teen. He was looking at Butch through half lidded eyes and had one of the younger boy's wrists in a tight grip. They didn't even notice him come around.

"But I don't want to see you get hurt, you jerk! I'm stepping in if things start looking ugly."

"I don't need a girl protecting me or butting into one of my fights!" Ranma glared at Buttercup as he lightly shoved off of Butch, freeing him from the grip.

"Well excuse me for caring about your well being!" She shouted back.

All of Ranma's bravado left the moment she got the hurt look in her eyes. Doubly so when she stared to tear up a little. "Aw, I didn't mean it like that." He panicked as he started running towards her. He had his attention ripped away from Buttercup,however, as a fist came flying at the back of his head. He barely moved his head in time to miss being knock out. He rolled to the side and sprang back to his feet facing off with Butch.

"Don't ignore me!" Butch shouted as he squared up his fighting stance, ready to lay into the other teen. "I don't care who you are, but I'm warning you right now to stay away from Buttercup."

"The name's Ranma Saotome, and you're a hundred years too early to take me on, little man." He loosened up his stance a little as Butch stated to close in. He knew he should be more worried about Buttercup at the moment, but he couldn't afford the distraction.

"You don't know who you're messing with punk." Butch countered as he threw a left jab followed by a sharp right hook. Ranma leaned past the jab and under the jab before springing up to deliver a kick to Butch's stomach, sending the taller boy to his back.

"Stop before you embarrass yourself some more, buddy. I really need to go talk to buttercup right now, so if you don't mind-" Ranma was cut short as Butch launched himself at Ranma fast. He had to hop back as Butch left a small crater where he had been less than a second before.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to juice it up a little. You'd better run, pal, before you get hurt." He launched himself at Ranma again and let loose a flurry of jabs that only the Ruffs and Puffs should have been able to follow.

Ranma was able to avoid most of the blows, and block the rest. He felt a buzzing in his arms from the power of each blow. He shook his arms out while putting a little more distance between him and his opponent. "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I've had enough of this."

"My problem?" Butch started to charge at Ranma. "My problem is you, you little creep." He started to throw combination after combination at Ranma, some of his blows connecting, but most passing through empty air. Every time he missed he was rewarded with either a powerful kick or punch to his gut or face. It was pissing him off. "You show up out of nowhere, carrying Buttercup to school. You bet I have a problem with you!"

Ranma grabbed one of Butch's arms and spun the boy around. He slapped the elbow and pulled hard, dislocating both joints in the boy's arm. He kicked the boys legs out and pinned Butch to the ground with his knee. "Listen, pal. I just moved here. My pops started working for their dad, so we're living there now. Buttercup was kind enough to carry me to school, not the other way around. Now say goodnight." Ranma cocked back his fist to claim his victory. A voice cut him off, however, as his fist was held back by an incredibly strong force.

"Alright, you two. Break this up before I decide to punish the both of you." Ranma looked up to see two new people. The first he noticed was an older woman with long black hair that curled out at the end. She was wearing a khaki vest and slacks.

Then there was the boy that was holding his fist. He was about the same size a Blossom, maybe half an inch taller. His blazing red hair was cropped short and had a little bit of styling gel added. He had a red letterman jacket over a white t-shirt. He wore loose bluejeans and white sneakers. "Damn, bro, what happened to you?"

"Brick, be quiet. I'm not finished." The woman switched her glare to the boy briefly before returning it to Ranma and Butch.

"Yes, ma."

"Butch, you should be ashamed of yourself. Fighting with a new kid, and using your powers as well, especially on a normal person. I thought you were past that a long time ago." The woman scolded with her hands on her hips. "You're lucky Blossom got to me before some of the other teachers saw, or my hands would be tied. Now if you would please release my son, mister Saotome."

"Uh, yeah." Ranma was slightly confused, but complied as his hand was released. He winced in pain as the high from the fight started to wear off. He felt like he had just finished his first sparring all over again. "How do you know who I am?"

"Oh, excuse me. I am Dean Keane, the person in charge around here, and the mother of the young man you just had the small altercation with." She said with a smile, as if she hadn't been mad at all. "Now if you'll excuse us, I have to take Butch to the nurses office to see about getting his arm back in place."

Butch glared at Ranma as he was lead away. "Don't think this is over, punk."

Ranma stretched out his sore muscles lightly and turned to the Utoniums and the boy, Brick, that were now standing looking at him. Bubbles had a look of awe and Blossom was looking at him slightly disappointed while holding Brick's hand. Buttercup, however, looked a little more than aggravated at him. "Look, I didn't mean it. I was just pissed at that Butch kid for picking a fight with me." Her features softened a little, but she still didn't look happy. The boy in the letterman walked up to him and held his hand out.

"The names Brick. Butch is my brother." Ranma shook his hand. "I'm sorry about what he did. He gets hot headed about thing concerning shorty here. Ow!" He rubbed his shin, but was glad that her anger shifted towards him instead of the new kid. He didn't really do anything wrong, after all.

"Ranma. I'm living with the Utoniums now that my pops works for their dad. Don't worry about your brother. Wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

"Oh yeah?" It was the first time that Buttercup had spoke since the fight. She marched over to Ranma and started to poke at the myriad of bruises that covered his body. It really was hard to keep a manly look on your face when tears forced their way out of your eyes, Ranma decided. "What were you thinking? You could have gotten really hurt."

"But I didn't, I'm fine. Look, I'm sorry about what I said, okay? Can't we just get to school? I don't want to be late on my first day."

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The day wasn't too bad overall. Ranma had made I to lunch with only being woken up once. The girls were in his astronomy class. At lunch the Ruffs were absent. Blossom had said something about Dean Keane wanting to see them. Buttercup seemed to be in a better mood by then too. He had to man up and claim that his body hurt too much in gym class. It was a pool day, and he didn't have the appropriate wear, not that it would have mattered. Butch laughed at him, saying that he needed to watch himself. Ranma even had the chance to meet the tallest of the brothers, Boomer. He was almost seven feet tall. Everything was going smooth until the end of school.

Ranma was waiting in the third floor windows for the girls. He was in the middle of reading a one of his favorite comics when he felt wind blowing through his hair. He looked up to see that the school pool was coming right for him. He squawked and threw his book bag to the side, hoping for his books to not get wet. Must have leaned a little, damn it. He clawed at the air cursing his luck. "I was doing so good too!" And then the water hit, or he hit the water, one of the two. He felt the change happen and started for the edge of the pool. She was surprised when a hand caught her wrist and she was pulled out of the water.

"You should be more careful." She looked up to see a boy with medium length parted blonde hair. He was very tall and wore a blue polo with khaki cargo pants. He was also sporting a winning smile. "That was quite a fall you just had. If it weren't for the pool, you'd have been hurt pretty bad."

"Thanks for the help, Boomer." She said without thinking.

"Oh, you know who I am? I'm honored to have a fan a beautiful as you." He cupped her cheek in one of his hands and held the small of her back in the other. Her face turned a little green.

"Uh, you can put me down, I think I can take it from here." She started to panic.

"Nonsense, please allow me to check and see if you're alright." He said softly as he started to lean in to take his prize for rescuing such a cute girl.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you." Both teens looked up to see Buttercup walking towards them. "You were suppose to wait for us in the center of campus so you wouldn't get lost."

Boomer reluctantly set the small girl down. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah, she's a pen-pal from Canada. She came to visit us and we were going to show her around the city today."

Ranma all but ran to Buttercup's side with her bag and a small thanks.

"Wait, what's your name?" Boomer had called out, but the two small girls had already made a break for it.

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Buttercup was carrying Ranma('You're a girl right now, so you have no excuse') on the way back home. It had been a long day for the both of them.

"So, got anything besides the training room or the pool we can relax with back home?" Ranma asked as she enjoyed the feeling of the wind around her body.

"Aw, are you sure you don't want to go for a dip? We could stop and pick up a nice little bikini that would look killer on you. We could take turns putting on lotion, too." Buttercup said with a slight leer. Ranma tried to hide her blush with her bangs.

"Ah, yeah. I'm sure"

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**AN:** Fhew, that took some time. It's time for tests here at my school, so I have not had time to work on the fic at school. I also got a new huge ass TV that has 7 inputs and an analog input for my tower. It even has a button on the remote to turn the damn thing, lol. Needles to say, I've been fairly distracted. Now onto story related matters. The Ruffs. I'm planning on using Butch as a more competent Tatewaki in terms of his rivalry with Ranma. Boomer is more of a blend with Mikado and Tatewaki, though he IS smarter and will eventually discover the curse. Brick will be a direct male counterpart to Blossom as the leader and logic of the Ruffs. As for Keane, I figured her to be the person who would have taken it upon herself to adopt and care for the Ruffs as sort of a counter point to the Professor. Any who, review. It makes it easier on my daily bowel movements.

**#2:** May eventually start putting art up. Not sure, so don't hold me to it. However, if I am sent art it will stand a 99.9% chance of making it somewhere that people can enjoy. I will also be sharing the name of the next chapter at the verrry end. Kinda like the Ironman movies.

**Up Next:** This Little Piggy


	5. This Little Piggy

**Prenotes**

**Kamen Rider Double: **Ranma never had an ability to attract other women. Outside of the two fiances and amazon wife, the only woman he attracted was Kodachi. Everything hinting otherwise is anime or fanon. Now he DOES have an ability to attract men.

**Demon Lord f Blood: **Ah, but you forget one thin: Butch has super powers. Tatewaki was able to tag Ranma way more than once throughout the series, and Butch is suppose to be a better version of Tatewaki. And I would not count on Bubbles wasting Ryoga for being being P-chan. She is a very kind and forgiving person.

**Dumbledork: **I'm not replacing anyone. That isn't to say that Princess wont try to steal Ranma for the sake of having something that one of the Puffs wants.

**Hiryo: **Note: Ranma lost all higher brain function.

**Nightmaster: **Yes the girl's enemies will show up. I'm getting there... eventually. As for Cologne, she never had 'plans' for Ranma because of his strength. She had plans because of village law. Finally, Mojo. He would most likeli rely on a robot or gun to give him an advantage over Ranma.

**Firelordeg: **Writing smut for the sake of writing smut is stupid and detracts from a story's integrity a lot. If someone wanted to do so based off of my story, all the power to you. I can guarantee that I will not support such an action, nor allow it to be considered a part of the continuity of my story. And if that gives someone an idea, do not post in the comments a tittle, author name or link of any kind. If you do, you will be reported. Sorry. Oh, and thanks for the support.

**Clashing Colors**

Ch.5 – This Little Piggy

It had been a couple of weeks since Ranma had started school. Ranma had been doing fine in his classes. His father was proud, even if he refused to show it. He was close to catching up in his mathematics as well with Buttercup's help. Blossom and Bubbles always seemed too busy to help him, but at least Buttercup always seemed willing to help. He enjoyed his time studying with her for the most part. She always wanted to use the pool afterward, though. He had steadfastly refused thus far('Men don't sunbathe.'), but knew that he couldn't take her disappointed looks much more before giving in. It also didn't help when she's point out men enjoying the sun in whatever happened to be on TV.

He had only a few more fights with Butch, all of which he had won, surprising many as Butch would always start to use his powers towards the end. Ranma did get banged up, however, as he didn't really have a good counter for super powers and he never really took the fights seriously either. It got to the point where they would just go to the soccer field to settle their current dispute with a crowd watching, much to Dean Keane's displeasure. It was usually something small that set Butch off, but it wasn't like he needed a big reason to try and fight Ranma. Ranma still didn't know why this Butch kid always wanted to fight him, but it was good practice as far as he was concerned.

Boomer had been a different story all together. Ranma couldn't go for more than two days without changing at least once sometime during school. Every time it happened Boomer had been right around the corner. Everyone knew the boy was something of a player, and wasn't surprised when he started to talk of this beautiful Asian-Canadian girl that always seemed to show up when he was alone. Most people thought he was going crazy, and were concerned when he stopped chasing other girls all together. Buttercup thought it was hilarious, and, even though she was always nearby to bail Ranma out, always laughed at his expense.

Twice a week Ranma would take turns using the training room with the girls. They would usually make him go first, and try to learn a thing or two from his round. They still couldn't staple the doors shut in the gang scenario like he could, and, since sealing all the door simultaneously was required, couldn't beat it on eleven without using their teamwork. He would always say something snide and end up getting either punched or kicked by one of the girls, though Bubbles had only done it once at the comment that she'd only be helpful in fending off teddy bears. Occasionally, the girls would go first on the giant monster scenarios. This gave Ranma a small chance to get ready for a solo run of the same monster. The girls were always amazed that he usually came up with a plan and would even change it up if things weren't going accordingly. Buttercup was just starting to be able to do a few of the scenarios on level eleven, but mostly stayed on ten. Blossom was up to level seven and Bubbles was on level six. Ranma would never do anything below eleven, even if he got his ass handed to him('What sort of man would stoop to making things easy?').

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It was a bright and sunny Saturday that found Ranma and the girls walking along one of the commercial zones in the main city area of Townsville. Buttercup had finally convinced(guilt tripped) Ranma into getting a bathing suit for use with the pool or at a beach('What if we go to the beach? You can't spend all day under the umbrella.'). Blossom and Bubbles wanted new suits as well, so at the expense of the fathers, the group decided to go shopping. Genma had started to get more money than he understood what to do with, so it didn't bother him at all, especially when he couldn't wrap his mind around the conversion rates completely. He handed Ranma four one-hundred dollar bills and told him to have fun. Because she couldn't really go swimming in trunks, she was a girl at the moment. She was worried that Boomer would pop out at any moment.

"Would you calm down, Ranma." Buttercup rolled her eyes at the other girl's actions. She had finally gotten Ranma to come out, she wanted her to have some fun. It took a little bit, but She had convinced the smaller girl to wear something that would make her more difficult to spot."The Ruffs are never in this part of town, with the exception of when Blossom wants Brick to carry bags."

"I can't help it. It's like he has radar for me when I'm a girl." She was nervously tugging at the edge of what she considered to be unnecessarily short jean shorts. She also had on a baby blue t-shirt that Bubbles insisted she keep('It'll be too big for me after you're done using it.').

"Buttercup is right." Blossom spoke up. "Every time Boomer came here in the past, he ended up getting kicked out for one reason or another. Usually for something indecent. Just relax and enjoy this girls day out." She smiled as she pumped her arm in the air.

"But I ain't a girl!" Ranma waved her arms around in outrage. She squawked as her butt got pinched. She blushed as she looked at the grinning Buttercup and tried to ignore the laughing Bubbles.

"You could have fooled me."

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Buttercup was having the time of her life. Her confidence around Ranma had been building up over the past weeks. She found that she had quite an effect on Ranma in either of her forms and enjoyed using it to her advantage. She was having fun teasing Ranma with all sorts of provocative bathing suits.

"How about this one?" She asked as she held up a bright red two piece. Ranma looked away as her face started to match her hair. _Okay, so maybe it is a little on the small and see-through side. _She giggled as she put the garment back.

"Can't I just get a one piece or a wetsuit or something?" Ranma started to whine.

"No." Buttercup glared at the smaller girl. "I want to enjoy my time swimming AND sunbathing, and you're going to enjoy it with me." She smiled inwardly as Ranma sported a defeated look. _Hah, looks like I win._

"Are you two done having your lover's spat?" Both girls looked over to see Bubbles with a large pile of suits in her arms. "I've chosen a few for each of us that I think will suit us the best." She was smiling at the blush that crossed Buttercup's face at the lover's comment. She handed each of the smaller girls their own piles to try on. Blossom came up with her own pile and the girls headed for the changing rooms.

"Uh, where are we going?"

"We need to make sure that the suits fit us right. Besides, it's always fun to have a small show when you go clothes shopping." Bubbles smiled brightly as she started to drag the protesting Ranma along.

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A few hours later found the girls enjoying pizza at the outside area of o popular restaurant. Ranma was still sporting a small blush. Things had gotten especially hard for her when Bubbles had whispered something into Buttercup's ear. At that point, Buttercup had started using fairly erotic poses aimed directly at her. In the end she had bought a one piece for swimming and three two pieces for sunbathing. Each of the girls had an opinion on which one suited her more, so Buttercup insisted that she buy all three.

They were about finished with lunch when they started to notice panicked people running down the street. The girls, including Buttercup, groaned when their bracelets started to buzz. Blossom activated hers.

"What is it, Mayor?"

"Blossom, it's horrible. Reports are coming in about a giant wild pig rampaging throughout the city! You've got to do something!"

"Alright, girls... and Ranma, even though you're a girl." Blossom smirked at the diminutive girl.

"Hey!"

"You heard the mayor, we need to find a giant wild pig."

Blossom and Bubbles took off immediately while Buttercup took the time to pick up Ranma bridal style. Ranma would have complained, but she did understand the severity of the situation. Besides, she was getting sick of running simulations and bored with Butch.

It didn't take long for the girls to arrive on the scene. All they had to do was follow the fleeing people and the sound of car alarms. It was quite a sight to behold. A massive boar, easily the size of a small trailer, was rushing about causing mass mayhem.

"Isn't it quite a few months early for some May ham?" Ranma said with a grin before getting slapped upside the head. The girls flew down slowly to avoid becoming the next target for the rampaging beast.

The boar had flipped a few vehicles and started to crash through some storefronts before it noticed a person walking calmly down the street. The girls noticed too. Whoever it was looked to be studying the ground as they walked. The boar let out a cry as it went full tilt towards the lone figure. They girls tried to get to it in time, but the boar was running at an incredible speed.

"Look out, you idiot!" Ranma shouted at the top of her lungs.

The boy looked up at the last second to see the monster sized porcine about to bare down on him. In a motion that rivaled Ranma's speed, the boy pulled an umbrella from his large pack and thrust it at the boar. The pig was stopped in its tracks with the umbrella against its snout as the boy just stood there without even twitching from the impact. He pulled the umbrella back slightly before giving a mighty shout and launching the boar into the air. He cocked back his fist and delivered a devastating uppercut as the monster came crashing back down to earth. It landed in an unconscious heap.

The girls finally got a good look at the boy. He was Japanese for sure, and about the same height as Ranma(in boy form). He wore a yellow-brown tunic with a yellow belt. He had on black pants similar to Ranma's tied at the ankle around black slippers. His jet black hair was held in a yellow bandanna with a black block print. He looked up to the girls and smiled as he slipped his umbrella back into his heavy pack.

"Thanks for warning me. That would have really hurt had I not noticed at the last second." He said as he scratched the back of his head, slightly blushing at the attention of four cute girls.

_Didn't he even notice that four girls were just floating in front of his eyes? _Ranma thought as she tried to figure out why her brain started to itch. _Man he looks familiar. Eh, if it's important I'm sure it'll come to me._

"I'm sorry to ask a favor from you after you've already helped me out, but do you think you could point me in the direction of the Pokey Oaks Campus?" He asked while holding up a map of Townsville as the girls all looked to each other then shrugged.

It was Blossom that spoke up. "Yeah, just follow this road north, you can't miss it." She said as she pointed along the road."

"Thanks!" The boy smiled and waved before turning and walking south.

"That way, you idiot." Buttercup sighed as she picked the boy up and set him down facing north.

"Oh, thanks again!" The boy waved once more before walking off.

"He was cute." Bubbles said with a smile. Her sisters groaned.

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It had been two days since the boar incident. Buttercup had almost stopped her whining about nothing to fight. School had just let out and Ranma wanted to leave before something turned him into a girl again. He was running towards the large tree in the center of campus. Some people were having a water balloon fight. He weaved around the ammo. The groundskeeper lost control of his hose. He spun around the errant stream. The sprinkler system went off early. He gave a mighty leap over it. He was smiling as he noticed the girls waiting for him. Bubbles was clapping and cheering for his success.

Then he felt a different sense of danger all together. He looked up in time to see the boy from a couple of days ago coming at him with his umbrella held in striking position.

"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!" The boy bellowed as he came down in the strike. Ranma barely had enough time to spring out from under the attack. With a loud bang, a small crater appeared. The boy looked up with a feral grin. "Still good at running I see, Ranma."

Buttercup approached the boys. "Hey aren't you that boy from a couple of days ago? Ranma, do you know him?" Ranma gave her a quizzical look before his face started to screw up in concentration.

"Uh umm..."

"Don't hurt yourself, now." She said as she patted his shoulder.

"Just tell me one thing, Ranma." The other boy said as he leveled his umbrella at the boy in question. "Why did you run out on our man to man duel?"

"Oh!" It was like a seventy watt light bulb went off in Ranma's head. "That's right, from junior high! Ryoga Hibiki! Long time no see. How ya been, man?"

"So you remember. Tell me, why did you run?"

Ranma gave him an unimpressed look. "Let e ask you something, Ryoga. Why did it take you four days to walk five-hundred meters down the street."

"You think I was out for a stroll!" Ryoga yelled in outrage. "I suffered to make my way there."

"I waited there for three days."

"And when I got there on the fourth, you had run away." He leveled his glare at Ranma. "You can't run away anymore. I swear, whatever it takes, I'll destroy your happiness."

"My happiness?" Ranma turned to Buttercup. "Am I happy?"

"I'd say more of a sexually frustrated content." Buttercup said with a smile.

"Hey!"

"No more words!" Ryoga turned to put his pack down and looked up. "Where'd you go!" He looked left and right, but never behind. "I won't let you run away again you coward!" He shouted as he ran strait ahead, the opposite direction of Ranma.

By the time he disappeared the other girls had walked up to join him. It was Blossom that spoke up first.

"That has to be the worst sense of direction I have ever seen."

"Well, at least he's cute. You know, aside from the anger issue." Bubbles said. She always looked for the good in people.

Buttercup rolled her eyes at her sister before looking back to Ranma. "So, what did you do to him that made him so mad?"

"Believe me, I wish I knew."

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Later that night Ranma and the girls were watching TV. Ranma was half asleep with his legs reclined an the coffee table, Buttercup was laying along the couch with her feet across Ranma's lap, Bubbles was laying across the floor in front of the TV and Blossom was curled up in a chair reading a book. Genma had seen this scene plenty of times since the kids got into their routine. He and the Professor had just gotten done in the lab. He wasn't quite sure what the final product was going to be, but he was suspecting it to be groundbreaking. He had received a letter for Ranma earlier in the day. He didn't know who had sent it, but it did say challenge across the envelope.

He walked up to Ranma and swatted him on the head with the letter and held up a sign. *Looks like you got a challenge, boy.* he tossed the letter into Ranma's lap. *It got here earlier today.* He flipped the sign around. *Looks like it's a few days late though.*

Ranma looked up to see his dad. _It's weird enough seeing pops in a lab coat. Does he have to wear it when he's a panda too?_ "Thanks, pops." He sat up fully causing Buttercup to groan when her feet fell to the floor. He opened the envelope and read the letter.

"Who's it from?" Buttercup asked while sitting up to read over his shoulder. She was disappointed to see that the letter written in Japanese.

"Ryoga. Says he'll be at the school soccer field waiting for me... yesterday."

"Yesterday?" She looked confused. "Shouldn't you go check it out and make sure he hasn't been waiting there for a while."

"Nah, it'll be okay." Ranma said smiling as he turned to her. "He's got the world's worst sense of direction. I bet he shows up Thursday."

Blossom looked up from her book. "Are you sure you can't remember what has him so upset. He seemed pretty sure that you ruined his life."

"Yeah, he was angry enough to want to kill you, and we all know Buttercup doesn't want that." Bubbles said, only to be silenced as a throw pillow met her face courtesy of Buttercup.

"Wait, I think I got it!" Ranma jumped right out of his seat as he held his finger up. He looked quite proud of himself, too. "Back in junior high. The new semester had just started. In the cafeteria, the last of the curry bread was thrown high above the crowd. Ryoga was going for it, but I got to it first. He cried tears of bitterness and swore that he would never forget the incident."

"You expect us to believe that lunch was that bad?" Buttercup asked.

"Well, it was an all boys school, so the cafeteria was a battlefield." He looked around to see three shocked faces. "Hey, back then I was a guy all year around!"

"Wait," Blossom piped in, "you mean to tell us that this whole 'kill Ranma' thing was over one missed meal?" She gave him a disbelieving look.

"Ah, no. There more. Let's see... There was the pork cutlet bread, the croquette bread..."

Ten minutes later, Ranma was still listing off the breads he got to just before Ryoga. "Seaweed bread..."

"Sounds like a case of a few thousand straws to me." Buttercup sighed.

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It was Friday as school let out. Ranma was making his way to the soccer field to check for Ryoga. Hey was glad the wait was over when he heard the boy let out his challenge. Well, mostly glad. He didn't agree with his description in the request.

"Stop being a coward and come face me, Ranma!" Ryoga shouted as loud as he could. There was a small crowd gathering. _Heh, more people to witness Ranma's defeat._

Ranma was just approaching the small group of people he started to call friends, mostly the Keanes and Utoniums. There was also a boy he had just met the week before, apparently he had been out of state visiting relatives for a while. He was about the same height as himself and Bubbles with brown hair. He was never without his large headphones, baggy jean shorts, green backpack, skateboard or black shirt with the words 'MITCH ROCKS'.

"Ranma, he's here. 'You got those'?" Ranma could never get over the fact that he sounded like Popeye.

"Yeah."

"Don't get your ass kicked, Saotome. I still have to beat you." Butch said while popping his knuckles.

"Even if I was half dead you couldn't beat me."

"Ranma, be careful." He looked up to see Buttercup with a rare look of worry on her face. "Remember what he did to that pig in one hit."

"Heh, don't worry about me." He said with a smirk. "I'm a far cry from some stupid pig." He gathered up his secret weapon and jumped out to the field to end this challenge.

"About time you showed up. I thought you may have run away again." Ryoga said as he dropped his pack next to himself.

"I didn't come to fight, Ryoga" Ranma tossed something at Ryoga. "Here, catch."

Ryoga caught the object and looked to his hand. "A sandwich? What is this?"

"Geez, greedy, alright here. One for everyone I took." Ranma tossed a large bag to Ryoga.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"This is a bread feud, isn't it?"

"You think mere bread is going to make up for the horrors I suffered? Besides, all of these sandwiches are moldy."

"Well, yeah. You did keep me waiting for a while."

Buttercup palmed her face. "I told him to put those in the freezer."

"This isn't still about the duel is it?"

"No, this isn't about a duel anymore. This is about revenge." He tossed the sandwiches aside and brought his umbrella up like a rapier. "Enough talk!" He dashed at Ranma jabbing extremely fast. Ranma just kept hopping back, just out of range.

Ranma's friends were off to the side in awe. They had never seen a fight of this caliber. Sure, the Puffs and Ruffs had their supper powered fights, but this was something else completely.

"Stop running away!" Ryoga opened his umbrella and threw it like a top. It left a small trench along its path. As Ranma avoided the umbrella, Ryoga slipped off his headband, revealing yet another, and tied it around Ranma's wrist. "This will keep you from running."

"Let me ask you something." Ranma said as he bobbed around Ryoga's strikes. "How many bandanas are you wearing?"

"Don't make light of the situation!" Ryoga shouted as he made a swipe for Ranma's head.

Ranma felt a small twinge of pain along his cheek. He touched the spot and felt a small amount of blood. "You managed to cut me. Looks like I'll have to start taking this seriously." His eyes hardened as he started to concentrate.

"Ugh! This thing weighs a ton!" Boomer looked over and noticed Mitch pulling on the handle of the umbrella. It didn't budge. He walked over and tried himself. Even with his boosted strength it took a little effort to lift it. _It's like lifting a small car, and he swings it so effortlessly!_ He shouted over to the girls. "Let Ranma know that Ryoga has the strength of a monster!"

Buttercup relayed the message. She was starting to get worried. She knew Ranma was a strong person, and could take on one of the Ruffs. However, this Ryoga boy was about as strong as them and looked to have Ranma's skill.

"Looks like you found out," Ryoga said as he lunged towards Ranma's head, "a little too..." His hand went through Ranma's head. He was surprised when the head vanished and he felt his arm tugged down. Ranma had moved so fast no one had seen it. He swung like a pendulum through Ryoga's legs and brought the boy to his knees.

"What did I find out a little too late?" Ranma said with a wide smile.

"You dare try to bring me to my knees?" Ryoga said outraged. He moved himself into a one handed stand and launched himself and Ranma high into the air.

"Whoa, did you see that!" Brick asked the others as he shielded his eyes from looking directly into the sun.

Ranma decided it was time to seriously fight back. He dodged a few of Ryoga's kicks as they started to fall and added a few of his own. When they hit the ground he used both legs to kick Ryoga into the air again, forcing him to release his hold on the bandana. Ryoga scurried back to his umbrella and slashed at Ranma as he came in with a kick. Ranma barley flipped out of range, but not before catching the slash across his shirt.

"Aw man, this was my favorite shirt!" Ranma said as he held the two sides of the tear.

"We're in the middle of a duel, Ranma. You sound like a girl!" Ryoga taunted as he tried to press his advantage. He was not expecting the reaction he got, however. He was kicked hard in the stomach.

"Who are you calling a girl?" Ranma cried, outraged. He threw a few more blows that connected with loud thuds.

Ryoga had no choice but to break off his attack and retreat. He needed to come up with a better plan. Ranma gave chase without second thought.

"They're moving towards the middle school, quick after them!" Blossom commanded as she lifted of in hot pursuit. Her sisters and the Ruffs weren't far behind. After a short chase, they ended up near the fountain.

Ryoga was looking around for a good spot to fight back. He didn't get a chance to find one as Ranma rocketed into him with a solid punch. He jumped onto the fountain and had just enough time spring away as Ranma came down with a fearsome kick.

"Who are you calling a girl!" The fountain didn't stand a chance.

Ryoga hopped back from the explosion of water with his umbrella shielding him from the errant spray. He was surprised when a small girl came out of the water and gave him a kick to the head. She came at him again. He was stuck in place as he caught sight of her bare breasts. Another vicious strike landed.

"Well Ryoga?" The small girl asked.

"Ranma!" Ranma looked up to see the Ruffs and Puffs floating above her, Boomer with his mouth hanging open. Buttercup was the one talking. "Ranma, your chest." She said pointing.

"My... oh." Ranma was a little embarrassed that she forgot about the cut across her shirt. She tried to cover it as best as she could.

"You got yourself so worked up you didn't notice yourself go girl." Blossom remarked in a deadpan.

"Ra. Ranma?" Ryoga was stunned. It was one of the girls that helped him find the school from the week before.

"Yes, it's me! Laugh all you want." She said with a downcast look. "Look, I don't know what I did to you, but I'm cursed with this body." She started to say dramatically. "Yet I take it in stride and treat others with kindness."

"Kindness he says." Butch rolled his eyes.

Ryoga started to chuckle darkly. "To call that a curse." He pulled a handful of bandanas off his head and start spinning them at an extreme speed. "With an adorable figure like that, you don't know what a true curse is!" He launched the bandanas followed by his umbrella. "Even if you manage to dodge the umbrella my bandanas will strike from all sides. Accept your defeat!"

Ranma acted fast. She stopped the umbrella with a swift kick and grabbed the handle. Just before the blade-like bandanas could strike she opened up the umbrella. Most of the bandanas stuck in, with only a few bouncing off harmlessly. She gave a mighty leap and threw the umbrella like a spear back down towards Ryoga.

Brick looked to his tallest brother. "Boomer, didn't you say that that umbrella weighed about the same as a small car?"

"Uh, yeah." Boomer was still in a small state of shock. The girl he had set his sights on was Ranma. What did it mean? Well, she was still beautiful. Was she a man or a woman?

Ryoga quickly grabbed his belt and used it like a sword to split the umbrella. Before he could reengage the fight, he was stopped by a loud command.

"Stop the fight!" Brick looked over and noticed his mom running onto the scene. Mitch was right along side her.

"Sorry, dude. Things were looking a little out of control. I had to get the boss lady." Mitch said as he hopped off his skateboard and surveyed the destruction.

Dean Keane cut back in. "I don't know who you are, but in order to fight Mr. Saotome, you will have to sign up for an official challenge in the office as agreed between me, the Dean of the campus, and one Genma Saotome, master of the Saotome school of Anything Goes." She was breathing hard from having to run halfway across the campus.

"What, that's ridiculous!" Ryoga yelled. "I won't stand for it." Ranma landed and patted the currently taller boy on the shoulder.

"Sorry, man, but thems the breaks." She walked back towards her friends. "You either go through that channel or come to my house."

"Fine, I'll see you tonight" And with that, Ryoga stalked off.

"I don't know about anybody else, but I'm ready to head out." Ranma said looking to her friends.

"Um, I have a question." Mitch said as he raised his hand. "What happened to Ranma, and who's the girl?"

Boomer walked up with his smile in place. "The girl IS Ranma. She's the girl I've been telling everybody about. She just doesn't realize that she should be a girl all the time yet. I am her destiny, after all."

Ranma shivered in disgust. She looked over to Dean Keane, who just nodded. She turned to Boomer with a smile. He felt his heart flutter. Then his shin explode in pain as she gave him the hardest kick she could muster without breaking him. She turned to Buttercup, "let's get out of her, I need a shower now."

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**AN:** One more notch on the proverbial belt. Sorry to those that wanted to see a baby pig. Just hold your horses. I feel that I made a big enough difference to the intro of Ryoga to make it count. As for Ranma buying bating suits, at this time in the manga he was already getting badgered into wearing girls clothes when his were all dirty. And it wasn't much longer till the cat's tongue forced him to be a girl for a couple of weeks. I'm planning to buy a scanner in September, and will be setting up a deviant art account specifically for this fiction. And finally, everyone should review. I'm hoping to eventually reach the 1000 review mark and I need every little bit. So spread the word about the fic. That and I also love responding to the comments. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time so far. Remember: Every time you review an elf farts. Let's gas out Santa.

**Up Next: **Don't Neuter the Pets


	6. Don't Neuter the Pets

**Prenotes**

**Firelordeg:** A lemon is sexually explicit. Regardless of the fact that others will do it, it is against the rules on . Now, I enjoy a lemon as much as the next guy/girl, but I read them just for that. Some stories flaunt the fact that there is a lemon in their stories to farm reviews. I find this to be disreputable. Now, that is not to say I'm against describing nudity or even limey scenes. A 'mutual masturbation' scene would cross the line. Petting does not. Just to clarify a few things.

**DLoB: **Ah, you see. You are still assuming things about the story. Remember what happens when you assume :). You forget that Bubbles has the ability to hear and speak any language.

**NightmareSyndrom: **Thanks, I try to write a new end line. It may or may not tickle your fancy. Kind of like the Futurama intros. Though I have to admit, when that line popped into my head, I laughed pretty hard.

**AnFan-n-More:** No story is without a preconceived plot to reign it in. Though different characters will change it substantially.

**Bluejam: **See previous response.

**Celestial Indigo:** Also, see previous response. Doing something like the neglige would be the one thing I hate the most. The visible hand of the author. As an author, I have a responsibility to make the interactions appear natural. This IS hard to do, and my hand will be visible from time to time. However, I will not do anything that is completely against a character's nature. Now, I hope this chapter meets your approval.

**Clashing Colors**

Ch. 6 – Don't Neuter the Pets

It had been a day since the attack and subsequent challenge from Ryoga. The girls were a little on edge, expecting him to pop up at any moment. Ranma, however, carried on without a care in the world. When asked about it, he just replied that worrying about it would just be distracting, and that the attack will happen when it happens. He'd rather spend his time practicing his Midnight Club skills so he could put up a fight against Buttercup. She refused to play fighting games against him, and he hated losing.

The fight between the two Japanese boys had piqued the interest of Buttercup to just how strong and skilled Ranma was. It seemed like everything that Ryoga had anted was either matched or raised. Even the unnatural strength that Ryoga seemed to posses was met in kind, at least as far as what was shown in their match. Sure, her sisters and her had much more raw power, but the skill and power that both of the boys used when they had fought was unsettling. Even during training, she now understood that he was always handicapping himself in some way for the challenge.

She was happy that she was Ranma's friend, but when thinking about the power that he wielded, along with the aesthetically pleasing body of the boy/girl, her knees became weak. Sure, he was more than a little rough around the edges, arrogant and could be a bit of a jerk when he wasn't paying attention, but it all made him more fun to be around. It really made her wish that Bubbles would interfere, which had yet to happen. She knew she was falling for Ranma hard, and, after mustering every ounce of courage she had, decided to make her move.

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Buttercup had found Ranma reading a book on the sofa in the living room, his eyebrows screwed together in concentration. She was wearing a bikini she had bought the day they went shopping. She was a little nervous using it, however, as it was a little on the small side. Never mind the fact that she had never worn anything other than a one piece before. _Dad would probably kill me if he saw me wearing this!_ It was green(naturally). The top was strapless and was divided in the front by golden ring, exposing a lot of her skin. The bottom was cut low, enough so to have forced her to liberally shave before even considering wearing it, and sported a small white heart that rested exactly over her button. This was one that even her sisters didn't know she had bought. _If things go as planned I may have to consider a good waxing._ She had a secret weapon held behind her back, so her confidence was a little higher. She was also glad, for once, that the house was vacant, and no one asked her to accompany them. Blossom was with Brick shopping, Bubbles was out at the park to talk with her animal friends, and the fathers were out having a meal and a drink to celebrate the success of another experiment they had been working on.

_It's now or never._ She gulped hard and floated silently toward Ranma.

"Hey, Ranma." She said a little more shakily than she wanted. "You've been studying pretty hard."

"Yeah, well, pops made a comment about me becoming one of the best minds in the world a while back, so I want, ted... t, t, too..." He started to stutter after looking up from his book. She was just floating there basically wearing nothing with her arms held innocently behind her back. His face started to redden as he tried to avert his eyes. "Uh, what's up?"

"I was just thinking that you could probably use a break." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I figured we could relax in the pool for a little bit." As she said this she pulled one of her arms out to reveal a blue and red suit that she had chosen for Ranma, one that may have been slightly smaller than it should have been_. It's not like he knows better though. _She smiled brightly, but couldn't keep a little bit of naughtiness from showing through. Seeing Ranma become so flustered boosted her confidence a lot more than she expected.

"Um, but I have to be a girl if we use the pool." He chuckled nervously as he tried not to stare at Buttercup. His eyes kept trailing back to her legs before he could stop them. He also had to place his book into his lap after crossing his legs. _Though that might not be too bad an idea right now._

"Oh, come on, Ranma." She pleaded and started to pull out her secret weapon slowly. "I've been begging you for weeks now. Look, today everyone is out until the evening, so no one will even see you being 'unmanly'." She revealed a cup of water. "And if you don't, I'll use my powers to force you into this bathing suit. It'll just be easier if you play along." She finished with a sadistic grin. Ranma shivered.

"Okay, okay," Ranma said as he grabbed the suit out of Buttercup's hand. "I'll do it, but I won't enjoy it." He made his way upstairs for the bathroom, still blushing from having born witness to what Buttercup had been wearing. She definitely looked like a girl wearing that suit.

Buttercup smiled as she watched Ranma disappear around the corner. _Well, that went easier than I thought._

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Bubbles was floating along lazily in the Townsville city central park. She was snacking happily on some walnuts that Kevin, one of the local squirrels, had given her. She was on her way to visit the Hopper family to congratulate them on the birth of their triplets. She was passing the fountain when she started to hear light splashing and shouts of anger. She was a little surprised by what she saw. A small black piglet was on the edge of the fountain trying his hardest to pull a really heavy looking bag out of the water. It was also wearing a familiar bandanna that she couldn't place. She stopped to check the situation.

#Stupid pack! Stupid fountain!# The pig squealed. It let the bag drop and sat back with a defeated look. #Who puts a fountain in the middle of nowhere. It's going to take me forever to pull this damn thing out. I'll never find Ranma at this rate.# It let out a pathetic squeal.

"Do you need help mister pig?"

The pig looked up to her with a half lidded stare. #Yeah, if you could just pull this bag out of the fountain, tell me where to find Ranma and leave without eating me, I'll be fine.#

Bubbles blinked at the odd request, but obliged, pulling the pack from the water. She set it down and picked up the surprised pig and sat it in her lap. "Alright, now why don't you tell me why you're looking for Ranma, mister pig." She smiled kindly.

#You can understand me?# The pig's eyes lighted up at the revelation.

"Isn't it a nice gift to have? I'm Bubbles."

#That's right, you're one of the Power Puff Girls that Ranma lives with! I need to find him so I can fight him. It's because of him that I'm in this situation.#

"He tossed you into the fountain?" Bubbles face turned into a light scowl, though most people thought it still looked more like a cute pout. "I'll have to talk to him when I get back home."

#No, I walking along in this forest when I tripped into the fountain.# The pig grumbled.

"Forest? But this is the park. Oh!" Realization dawned on Bubble's face. "Oh, you must have a curse too! Right, Ryoga?"

#You know it's me?#

"Of course!" She giggled cutely. "Who else is trying to fight Ranma and would think that a park is a forest?"

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The Professor and Genma had finished there meal a while ago and were enjoying some wine, though Professor was sure that had drank more than normal. It was strange, but whenever he and Genma Celebrated it seemed like they always drank just a little more. He didn't really mind, though, because he just felt comfortable drinking with him. He did notice that Genma was sporting a slightly depressed face.

"What's wrong, my friend?" He asked as he lit his pipe. "Since the last glass you haven't said much."

"I'm sorry, Sensei." Genma cleared his throat. "I was just thinking of my beautiful wife."

"Oh, you've never mentioned her before."

"It's a bit of a sore subject. You see, Ranma doesn't really know her. We've been so busy training on the road I suppose I just sort of forgot to mention her."

"I see. Well, why don't we just bring her here then? It shouldn't be too much of a hassle."

"There is a small problem with that idea, as much as it pleases me to hear you suggest it."

"Oh?"

Genma filled both of their glasses once again as he continued his story. "You see, when Ranma was five years old, I convinced my wife to let me take him on the training trip by writing a contract."

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Buttercup sipped her cup of water as she started to float back towards the kitchen. She was surprised when she heard Ranma already coming down the stairs after she placed the cup in the sink. _That was a quick cha..._ Her brain froze and a small trickle of blood made its way from her nose when she saw Ranma.

Ranma had already changed into her suit. It was similar to Buttercup's own suit, save for the ring and colors. The left side was red and the right side blue. In place of the ring in front there was a dual color bow tying the two colors together. It was also just shy of being the proper size, forcing her breasts to squeeze together in an excessive show of cleavage. This is only what caused Buttercup's brain to freeze. The blood came from seeing the bottoms. It was cut thin and low. The low cut caused a generous amount of fluffy bright red hair to be displayed.

"R, Ranma?" She barely found her voice.

"What, are we not swimming now?"

"Don't you need to shave first?" Buttercup had come out of her daze and was trying to wipe away her blood. "I mean, not that I mind or anything, but you probably don't want people seeing your hair down there."

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Ranma asked. "Besides, I don't really know how to shave."

"Wait, you don't know how to shave?"

"Well, it's not something I've had to do before. You think you could show me how?" Ranma asked while tugging at the tuft of hair.

This set off an explosion in Buttercup's mind. _Does she even know what she's asking me to do!_ "Uh , sure... If you really want my help, no problem." She was on automatic, images of Ranma spread eagle floating through her mind. She lightly grabbed the smaller girls arm and lead her back to the bathroom in a small daze.

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Bubbles was carrying Ryoga and wearing his pack as she flew back towards the home. She had made him wait as she visited the Hoppers. After that, they started back, with her asking how he had received his curse. He more than happily obliged to tell, even though he was slightly distracted at being hugged to her (soft) chest.

"... And you say you were knocked into the pool by a red-haired girl and a panda?" She asked as she flew.

#Uh, yeah... If Ranma hadn't run out on our duel, I wouldn't have had to follow him to China.#

Bubbles thought for a moment before responding. "Bad news, Ryoga. Ranma might be a little more responsible than you think. You see, Mr. Saotome got a panda curse at Jusenkyo." Ryoga started to shake in anger as he put two and two together. She turned him around and gave him a chiding look. "I doubt that he did it on purpose." Ryoga became slightly mollified at her reaction to his anger. "Look, I can't have you killing Ranma. My sister has a thing for him."

#What am I suppose to do about this curse then?#

"I wouldn't worry about it too much." She said with a smile. "You're pretty cute, you know. Whoever you decide to love will have one of the cutest boyfriends." She gave him a light kiss on his snout, causing him to blush lightly. "Besides, my dad is a super scientist. We may not be able to cure you, but I may be able to help you with your direction sense. All you have to do is give up this silly revenge thing with Ranma. You can still fight him, but do it as friends. He loves to fight for any reason." Ryoga nodded, still a little dazed that Bubbles had kissed him and called him cute. "Do you think you could do that for me?"

#Y, yeah. S..#

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Blossom and Brick were at the food court of the mall. They were taking a break after having shopped for a while and were planning on leaving soon. Brick had started to complain about having been standing to long. Blossom was enjoying her ice cream. They were winding down from the long day.

"So, how are Boomer and Butch taking the curse?" Blossom asked innocently. Brick knew it was far from it, as Blossom loved to tease his brothers. But as much as he cared for the integrity of his brothers, he could never say no to Blossom.

"Well, Butch is kinda over it, though he is having something of a moral dilemma."

"Really? How so?"

"Well, he's trying to figure out if it would be okay to hit Ranma when he's a chick."

"And Boomer?"

"Oh god, don't get me started." Brick shook his head as he palmed his face. "He's been trying to convince mom into making Ranma attend school as a girl. It's been kind of creepy, really." As he finished, he felt a wadded up food wrapper bounce off his head.

"It's not creepy, jerk." The two looked to see Boomer with a small bag in his hand. "She's my soul mate. I just have to try to get her to see it."

"Yeah, okay." Brick rolled his eyes. "What's in the bag, bro?"

Boomer lifted the bag. "This, oh nothing special." He developed a smug grin. "This is just going to help me win Ranma's heart." Blossom choked lightly on her ice cream, but Boomer ignored it. He turned to her and asked, "speaking of her, do you know where she is right now?"

"We'll take you with us when we're done shopping. Besides, I could use some extra arms." _And I want to see the look on Ranma's face when he gets a present from Boomer._ Blossom gave a slightly evil smile.

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Buttercup gave herself a mental shake to regain her bearings as she approached the bathroom door. _I got to know before I take this too far. _"Ranma, before I help there is something I want to know."

"What's up?"

"You know that I like you, right?"

Ranma smiled brightly, "I like you too, Buttercup. You have to be the best friend I've ever had!"

Buttercup let out a slightly frustrated groan. "That's not what I mean."

Ranma sighed with a hint of depression. "Look, I can only be a guy half of the time. Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could be anyone's boyfriend right now." She was surprised into silence, however, when she felt the taller girl's arms wrap around her. Her face matched her hair when she felt soft lips touch her own. She slowly started to reciprocate the gentle kiss. They stayed that way for a while. She could have sworn she felt a small spark of electricity from the initial contact.

"I don't care if you were a guy every other Thursday." Buttercup smiled as she opened the door and pulled the smaller girl in.

Ranma could only nod as she was lead in, stunned by her first kiss. Even if it was as a girl. _It could have easily been worse; I could have been kissed by a guy._

Buttercup's smile turned malicious as the door closed, however. "Now, I was thinking of giving you a landing strip, but that might look a little silly when you turn into a guy."

"A what?" Came a choked response.

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As the trio were flying slowly to the Utonium house, Boomer gave a slight shiver.

"What's up, bro?"

"I feel like I just missed something tragically awesome."

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Professor and Genma were climbing into a cab as they both had too much to drink. Genma was finishing his story, with the Professor hanging on every word.

"So you see, It's not just that I miss my wife, but I want Ranma to be able to meet his mother." Genma covered his face with his arm dramatically. "But with the situation we're in, it just seems impossible."

"I'm sure she's not that unreasonable. Is there anything I could do to help?" The professor missed the gleam in Genma's eye.

"I have been thinking long on this subject, Sensei, and I do believe that I have come across a possible solution." Genma knew that his plan was a gamble, but it was the best chance he had at setting his boy up. Sure, he might be against it at first, but he and that Buttercup really seemed to be hitting it off. Seeing his wife again would be a bonus, assuming she saw Ranma as a manly man. "There were two steps to my plan. The first has already been completed thanks to your generous job offer. With this job, I can show that I am a suitable male role model for Ranma. But with his curse, he would need some way to ensure that his mother saw him as a man."

"I think I'm starting to see the problem here."

"Yes. We both know that he and Buttercup get along quite well. So I suggest we explain the situation and offer them a trial engagement. I believe that with this, the boy will finally be able to meet his mother and show her he is a man of priority."

"I see. Well, I have no objection, considering Ranma's situation with his mother. We'll let them decide. I'm sure that given the circumstance, they, too, will be more than happy to oblige. I'll be happy to do my part to reunite him with his mother."

"Great!" Genma cheered as he produced another bottle of wine. "Let us celebrate!"

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Ranma and Buttercup were laying out on towels next to the pool. They had spent some time in the pool before sunbathing. Ranma was reading her book again and Buttercup was listening to music. Every now and then Ranma would rub around where her hair use to be.

"Still feel weird?" Buttercup turned to her side.

"Yeah. It's kinda like some weight is missing, but not really. It's hard to describe."

"You get use to it." Buttercup scooted closer to Ranma and put her book down. "So, are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah, it's not too bad, I guess." Ranma said as she rolled to her back. "But you can't tell anybody I'm enjoying this."

Buttercup moved to straddle Ranma. "I don't see a problem with that." She said as she pulled Ranma's arms around her waist. She smiled as she leaned in towards the smaller girl. "This can be our little secret."

"See, I told you that she had a thing for Ranma." Both girls froze in shock, as if a bucket of ice water had been thrown over them. They turned mechanically to see Bubbles with a huge smile plastered on her face. She was wearing a large pack and also had a small black piglet in her arms. It's nose was leaking blood as it nodded then passed out.

"B, Bubbles?" Buttercup stammered. "What are you doing back already?"

The taller sister set the pack down. "Oh, just helping out Ryoga." She said with a smile. "You didn't tell me you two got together." She said as she pulled out a camera and snapped a picture faster than the startled girls could react. "I must say, you two are going to have to break the news to Butch and Boomer. Though I don't think Boomer will mind too much."

"I won't mind what too much? Oh!" The girls turned once again to see Boomer. He looked like he had just won the lotto. Blossom and Brick landed right next to him. He handed Blossom a small bag. "Could you hold this for a second?" He asked as he pulled out his cell phone to snap a picture. He grabbed the bag back up and pulled out a small necklace. He took a knee next to the girls and slipped it around Ranma's neck. "Please accept this as a toke of our everlasting love."

Blossom and Brick fell to the ground in hysterics as Ranma started to pale. _Could this get any worse? _She cursed herself as she heard the glass door slide open.

"Ah, there's the happy couple now!" The girls turned to see the Professor and Genma supporting each other as they stumbled into the pool area. "Congratulations on your engagement!"

"Dad, are you drunk?" Buttercup asked as she grabbed one of the towels o cover herself and Ranma up. She was starting to feel really exposed.

"Nonsense!" He shouted as he wobbled his way over to Bubbles and squinted at the pig, who was just coming around. "Sweetie, If you're going to have another pet, please take it to the vet and neuter it as soon as possible. Remember what happened with the dog." Ryoga stiffened in fear before promptly passing out once again, along with the Professor who fell flat on his back.

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**AN:** Hey all. I hope you enjoyed this fun little chapter. Sorry about the wait, but I got sidetracked like a ferret in a mirror maze. I started to read Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede. It's one of my favorites. Once I finished that, I had to read the sequel Magician's Ward. The books are terribly addicting, and I suggest everyone to read them. At any rate, the chapter. It was a bitch to do. Every time I tried to start a scene, a million variations shot through my head. It took forever to chose what I wanted. At any rate, yes I am planning to bring Nadoka in earlier. Genma knows that the Professor values family, and uses it to engage Ranma to Buttercup to ensure his initial plan of hooking Ranma up with a Puff. You didn't think he gave up scheming did you? This will also help me with the intros for the other suitors, as Ranma would chose to honor his family before anything, as much as he would piss and moan about it. Ryoga most likely won't give up his grudge against Ranma, but it probably won't be at the same level of ass-jerkery as before. He doesn't have his eye on Buttercup. Coming into August don't expect much. My parents are coming to visit me here in Japan, and then we will be heading out to Singapore and Angkor Wat. You may get one or two more chapters before then, and will have to wait until sometime in September. Kudos to those who can figure out what happens next, there is a clue in the title. And remember; a review a day keeps the Farva away.

**Up Next:** Hell Is Meow


	7. Hell Is Meow

**Prenotes**

**Firelordeg:** Yeah, you need a M17+ rating, which is not available. No one seems to care though.

**DLoB: **I myself am also looking forward to a lot of the meetings, on both sides of the fence. Also, never stop assuming. Eventually you'll make an as of sume!

**NightmareSyndrome: **Watch Super Troopers.

**Dongaro: **We shall see.

**BerserSlash: **1)I hope your name does not imply the raping of men. 2) Good, that's my job.

**AnFan-n-More: **I don't know if Bubbles would be able to or not. Ranma _thinks_ he is a cat. That doesn't mean his mind becomes a cat. That is never really talked about in the manga.

**Celestial Indigo:** First off, Ranma was under Buttercup, and was still in shock. Second, Only the ladle ever locked the curse. Everything else just made the change inconvenient. Cat's tongue made things feel too hot. The iron corset would hurt him. Actually, that's it. He was only forced to stay in his girl form for a total of three times.

**Clashing Colors**

Ch. 7 – Hell Is Meow

Buttercup was glad it was the weekend. She wasn't sure she could face everyone at school after what happened yesterday. Boomer would probably post the picture around school as proof that Ranma was really a girl, as no one believed him yet. That would lead people into believing that she was a hardcore lesbian, even though Ranma was really a boy. Sure, all of this was likely to happen on the next day, but it would still happen. It was only Sunday after all.

Another thing that she wasn't sure she could handle was Butch's reaction to her engagement to Ranma. Engagement. It was a weird thought. It was also the reason she was hiding out in her bedroom. She didn't know if Ranma would start to treat her differently, and they had only just gotten their relationship started. They had found out late the previous night after the Professor had come around and explained the situation with Genma.

_Buttercup and Ranma were sitting in the kitchen waiting for the Professor to finish cleaning himself up. It was late at night, and the two teens had returned to their former dress(and gender), waiting for the explanation the two fathers promised. At the moment it was only her, Ranma and Genma. Everyone else had been sent away. They turned when they heard the even footsteps of the Professor enter the room._

"_Ah, everyone is here, good." He started as he crossed the room to sit next to Genma at the table, directly across from his daughter. "Now, first I should apologize for my earlier actions. I should have taken the time to sober up before trying to explain the situation." He looked to Genma, who nodded and pulled an old looking piece of paper from his lab coat._

"_Listen up, boy, this is very important." He said as he looked his son dead in the eyes. "This has to do with your mother."_

"_My mother?" Ranma looked stunned. "I have a mother?" Buttercup palmed her face._

"_Of course, boy! Did you think you sprang forth from my brow fully formed?" Genma replied in a tone of disbelief. "At any rate, I believe it is high time that you be reunited with your mother."_

"_And what does that have to do with me?" Buttercup asked, a little more than angry with the decision to engage her without her consent. "Don't we get a choice in this?"_

"_Now, Buttercup, of course you do." The Professor said as her rubbed the back of his head. "My earlier comment was due to the current nature of my being at the time, and I do apologize. Please, just hear us out." He pleaded. Buttercup just snorted and crossed her arms. "Genma, if you could."_

"_Of course, Sensei." Genma nodded as he took control of the conversation. "Ranma, when you were just a young boy, I wanted to start your training as soon as you were able. Your mother was against this, and did not want to be parted from her baby. In order to convince her that you would be better off starting your training trip, I wrote a contract." He opened the paper and presented it to the teens, though Ranma was the only one that could read it. "It states that Ranma would become a man amongst men, or both he and I would commit ritual suicide. As you can see, it was meant as a means to assure her that you would become a great man." He held up a hand to stall any outbursts. "At the time, I did not know that we would be receiving curses. Yours, boy, is why I have been unable to contact your mother in some time. Your mother, unfortunately, has a relatively skewed view of what it means to be a man. At least part of it. As such, I believe we have a solution to the problem."_

"_Sensei and I have noticed for sometime the relationship developing between the two of you. It is the only reason we are considering this. We want the decision to be yours. Now, this is the idea. If you two agree, Sensei and I will set up am agreement between our families to have our children engaged. This would make it an issue of family honor. It is one of the few things that your mother believes that a man should see as a priority. By willingly accepting the engagement, she would see you as a man." Genma finished his speech and cleared his throat, signaling for the Professor to continue._

"_Well, what do you say? I for one would like to see Ranma reunited with his mother. If you agree, we can fly her out here as soon as possible." He said. Ranma had a far off, almost hopeful look in his eyes._

She had said yes. She would be lying if she said that the only reason was to help Ranma. She knew it was selfish, but she felt that it may be her only chance to be with him. The other thing that was bothering her was what Ranma's mother would think of her. Genma had said something about her having a naive personality, almost like Ranma. She would be mortified if she was once again mistaken as a boy, especially by someone as important as to be considered her future in-law. Not to mention that it could jeopardize Ranma's life. As far as she knew, they would be going to the airport a little later to see the outcome of this new development.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a light knock at her door. She glided over and opened the door. To her surprise, it was Ranma.

"You know, were engaged now. You don't have to knock anymore." She tried to joke. She cringed at the failed attempt. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Well," he started, "I was feeling nervous about meeting my mom. I was wondering if you wanted to play a game, you know, for a distraction." He finished with one of his smirks that made her heart flip flop.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." She smiled. Maybe things would be alright after all. She leaned towards him. "But only for a kiss." He chuckled lightly and obliged.

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The image of The two teens faded out in a deep red pool of liquid. Two glowing eyes reflected in the mirror like surface.

"So, a new player emerges." Came a sing song voice. "One that could be a problem. A skilled fighter, powerful like the warriors of old. And in love with one of the power puffs. However, love is a fickle thing. It is something that could be used to," the voice dropped to a low harshness, "**DESTROY SOMEONE**!"

The pool started to swirl. An image emerged of a young Ranma, cowering in a pit of cats.

"Ah, fear." The voice pitched back up. "A potent emotion. Potent enough to **SHATTER** the very sanity of the barer." The image changed to show Buttercup and Ranma playing video games. "Have fun while you can, kiddies. By the week's end you will **SUFFER **a CAT-astrophic **END**" High demonic laughter bounced of the walls of the unknown as the eyes and light faded.

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The Utoniums and Saotomes were sitting near the arrivals gate in Townsville National. The previous night, Genma had called his wife. With the Professor's help, she was flying out immediately, with the Saotome household contents being packed and shipped by professionals. The idea was simple. Reunite mother and son, introduce fiance, show training video and end with the curse. Hopefully things stacked up good. According to the screens, the plane had already landed. The group was waiting for Mrs. Saotome to come through the doors.

Buttercup was standing right next to Ranma holding his hand. She was very nervous. When she tried to wear a skirt and makeup, Ranma laughed. After calming her subsequent anger, he explained that she should just be herself, even if it made her look like a ten year old boy. His mother would find out sooner or later. She was still amazed that his black eye had already healed. She looked to the boy and saw his own nervousness. She squeezed his hand in an attempt at comfort. It must have worked, because he looked down to her and flashed a smile. He also squared up his shoulders.

There wait ended shortly. A beautiful woman, about the height of Bubbles came through the gate. She walked with an air of dignity, and had a loving aura about her. Her features were very youthful, and she could have easily passed as Ranma's older sister. She had the same blazing red hair that Ranma sported half of the time. It was done up expertly, adding to the regal look of the woman. She was wearing a pink kimono, and looked every bit a Japanese princess. Her name was Nodoka Saotome, the mother of Ranma. She smiled when she spotted Genma, but froze when she saw the boy near him. The air about her vanished as her shock was palpable.

"Ranma?" She asked shakily as she surged forward. She gathered the boy into a crushing hug, fearful that he would vanish before her eyes. "Is it you?"

"Mom." Was all he could reply with as his own voice was failing him. It was all she needed as she pulled the boy out to arms length to take him in.

"Look at you!" She crowed. "Grown into a fine young man." She looked him over and noticed the small hand held in her son's own. She followed to a youth standing very close to her son.

Buttercup swallowed hard. This was the moment. This woman would become her mother-in-law, and at the moment, regardless of what she told herself before coming, her opinion carried the weight of the world. She felt a cold lump resting in her stomach.

"Ranma, who is this pretty young lady?" Buttercup's spirits soared. She was called pretty by Ranma's mother.

Ranma cleared his throat in an attempt the restore his voice. "Ah. Mom this is my fiance, Buttercup Utonium."

Buttercup was instantly dizzy. She wasn't sure when it happened, but she had been snatched up in a bear hug and swung around in circles. She was pretty sure she was going deaf as well, as she had this high pitched sound ringing in her head. When she felt the ground touch her feet again, she started to fall. Strong arms caught her. She was pretty sure it was Ranma.

"Fiance? Really?" She looked over the couple with a beaming smile. "How did it happen? You didn't plant your seed in her, did you? Oh, my manly son!" She wrapped her arms around herself as her imagination ran away. Ranma was blushing profusely.

"Mom! I did not 'plant my seed in her.'" He denied as he felt his skin's heat rise even more. "Dad and Sensei decided it." His gaze shifted to the girl in his arms, who was just regaining her senses. "But that doesn't matter. It would have happened in the long run anyway." He said softly. Buttercup felt her heart skip.

"Oh well, just don't keep me waiting too long. She may be a bit boyish, but a child goes a long way in bringing out the full woman in every girl." She was smiling as she straightened herself out. She turned to the Professor and bowed deeply. "My name is Nodoka Saotome. I thank you for looking after my husband and son. Please be kind to me."

"Mention nothing of it. Genma has been a great help in the lab." The professor gave a small bow of his own. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Utonium. These," he motioned to the girls, "are my daughters, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup; the Power Puff Girls."

"What's a Power Puff Girl?" Nodoka asked with her head cocked to the side. Blossom and Bubbles looked to Buttercup.

"What?"

It was Blossom that spoke up. "Hey, she's going to be your mother. You show her."

"Alright, fine." Buttercup huffed as she floated into the air. "We're superheroes, created in a lab accident that fused our dad's DNA with a series of ingredients, including a certain chemical X."

"You mean?" Nodoka looked stunned. "My son won the heart of a superhero? My son is so manly that only the best settle for him!" She waved her arms in the air childishly. Then her expression changed to sad. "Wait, you girls don't have a mother?" tears started to form in her eyes. She gathered the girls into a tight embrace. "I may only become Buttercup's mother, but you two can call me auntie."

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"And this is the training room." The professor said as the tour lead to the final part of Genma's plan. "It is here that Ranma and the girls train. Within this room any scenario I can create will appear as real images that you can touch and interact with. You should be proud that your son only trains on the hardest levels available." Nodoka beamed with pride. "We have even recorded some of the sessions from his training to show you how strong he has become." He said as he turned to his assistant. "Genma, if you could."

"Right away, Sensei." Genma said with a smile. He reached out to the control console and flipped the switch. Images sprang forth of Ranma in heated combat in a variety of scenes. From large monsters to hordes of people. Even his first session, where he was not prepared for what may happen, highlighted in the show. Genma swelled with pride when he saw the starry eyed look of his wife. When the demo ended Nodoka moved to Genma and gave him a gentle hug.

"Thank you." She whispered. "I know now more than ever that you were correct to take our son." She never noticed him develop sweat.

"And now, as you requested, Ranma's room for last." The professor stated and lead the group to the second floor of the house. As they approached one of the doors, they could hear loud noises. "Please excuse the noise. Ranma and Buttercup love to compete in games. They moved the consoles to his room as it would be a little improper for him to be spending too much time unattended in her room."

The group entered the room to see the teens sitting on the bed involved in a racing game.

"Eat it, Ranma!" Buttercup taunted. "You'll never beat me!"

"Yeah! Well, if I win, the next time we use the pool you have to wear that bathing suit from yesterday!"

"Likewise!"

Nodoka smiled as she watched her son's competitive nature come forth, especially when he mentioned wanting to see his fiance in a certain bathing suit. Though she was a little confused at said girl's response. She looked around the room, happy to see her son's living area. She moved to the closet when she noticed that it was opened. She frowned as she peered in. There were multiple bikinis hanging inside. There was even a damp one. She hoped there was a good explanation for this.

"Hah, you lose!" Buttercup's voice shook her out of her stupor. "Go get changed, loser. I want to cuddle at the pool now."

"That was a cheap mo-Mom!" Ranma squawked as when he noticed his mother near his closet. He paled when she pulled out his bathing suit. The damp one. "Uh, mom. When did you get here."

"Explain this." Nodoka demanded. "This is too big to be for any of the girls. Who's is this?"

"Oh, that?" Nodoka's attention was pulled to Buttercup. "That's the swimsuit I want to see my fiance in." She said with a naughty gleam in her eye. She picked up a water bottle and splashed Ranma with a little of the water. "I happen to like seeing her in it."

Nodoka felt her knees go weak when her son turned into her daughter. "?"

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Nodoka was siting at the table near the pool watching her child spend time with her fiance. Ranma and Buttercup explained the curse, which Buttercup said was a blessing in disguise. Buttercup explained her preferences when she had sent Ranma to get changed, and said that she was glad that Ranma had received the curse.

Nodoka was still unsure what to make of it all. She had to wait until Genma came out of the lab for a full explanation. Her son was a girl half of the time. But as a girl she still attracted the woman she loved. The woman she loved wanted her son to be more feminine conscious when female so she could have a beautiful girlfriend. She also liked Ranma to be the man of any girl's fantasy. In short, Buttercup had asked her to help her own son become more feminine, but only as a girl. It was all so confusing.

She looked over to watch the interactions of the girls. They were laid out on a couple of towels with Buttercup resting her head on Ranma's chest. Ranma was running her fingers through the hair of her fiance. Nadoka couldn't help but smile. Her son truly was a man among men as a man. Seeing the young woman who looked almost exactly like herself made her regret never having a daughter to teach.

It clicked in her head at that thought. Ranma was no longer just her son. As her son, he had far surpassed what she expected. Now she had to make sure that all of society would be jealous of her daughter. She would have to take Ranma out to buy appropriate clothing for when she was to be a girl for extended periods. Saturday would be the best day, as they could stay out for an extended period of time with no worry about Ranma's schooling. As she smiled at her fortune, Ranma shivered.

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The week had passed fairly quiet. The girls and Ranma cornered Boomer as fast as they could. They had discovered that he had told no one of the events from Saturday. They made sure that it stayed that way through threatening his well being. Bubbles disappeared regularly. When asked about what she was doing, she would reply that she was just helping a friend. She was often seen carrying around 'Mr. Pig,' who she claimed was her best friend. Whenever Blossom and Brick saw Boomer near Ranma they would start laughing. It annoyed Butch to no end when no one would tell him why. For some reason that he couldn't place, Ranma kept feeling a creeping dread. He knew about the shopping trip his mother had set up, but the feeling didn't match.

While he was not completely happy about the fact that he would have to act more like a proper girl and wear appropriate underwear when he planned to be one for a while, he didn't want to disappoint his mother. The fact that his dad was having kittens over the whole set up made it all the more attractive, though. The whole household would go to the mall come Saturday. With any luck, he could avoid Boomer the whole day, though that could be asking for too much. He knew that the mall was one of Boomer's favorite haunts.

As the day in question approached, the feeling of dread grew stronger. He had finally placed it as the same feeling he got when he knew there were cats around. He had no clue why he kept getting the feeling, as he had not seen any cats since coming to Townsville. He just hoped that the feeling was unfounded. He would hate for his mom or Buttercup to see him as a coward. That, and as much as he would like to see his dad pounded into a fine paste, even he knew that if it weren't for the second page to that manual, he would have done the same thing. It sucks to admit that you, yourself, could be that stupid sometimes.

As for his mother, she seemed to be blending in quite well. She had taken over many of the basic chores, stating that it was a mother's duty and she missed caring for her family. She would cook every meal, alternating each day between western and traditional Japanese. The Utoniums quickly banned natto from ever entering the household again. She was always after Buttercup to help her in the kitchen, since she would be the one to feed her child and grandchildren in the future. Whenever she did agree to help, her face would be beet red by the time the meal was finished. When Ranma would ask her about it, her blush would renew.

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"And try this one on, too." Nodoka said as she handed yet another piece of night wear to her daughter. "It's for the more intimate meetings of the night."

Ranma held up the thin piece of fabric. It was a red, mostly see through teddy. She wasn't sure when she'd wear it, but she really didn't want to disappoint her mother. She seemed to be having way too much fun. They had already bought several pair of underwear, skirts, footwear and various other wear. They had also taken her to get her ears pierced after Bubbles shared the fact that many boys do it in today's age. She had a small silver stud in each ear while they healed. She was glad that Blossom had convinced Brick to help run interference whenever Boomer was close by. The last thing she wanted was for him to try and watch her change.

Currently, she was in the changing rooms. Her mother had taken her measurements early on and was sending Bubbles out to find various pieces of clothing for Ranma. She would have to try on every piece and come out for a small show. It embarrassed her to no end. Especially with Buttercup there to give either a thumbs up or down. She was glad it was almost over. Soon they would go to the food court to finish the day.

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A dark shadow formed over the restroom corridor near the food court. Two red glowing eyes appeared, and bounced in silent laughter. The trap was set and ready. Soon, the warrior would be his bait, and the strongest of his enemies would be destroyed. Just as fast as the shadow appeared, it vanished with no one the wiser.

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Every one was exhausted from the long day of shopping and ready to eat. Ranma had separated from the group to change back into being a guy again. His mother was a little sad that her daughter wouldn't wear one of the cute outfits home, but glad that her son liked to be a boy.

He had just finished changing forms and adjusting his clothes. He looked at himself in the mirror and fingered one of his new earrings. _Well, I guess they look cool, but I can't help but feel like I'm losing a small part of my guy side by doing all of this._ An image of Buttercup and his mom's smiling faces popped into his head. _I guess it really doesn't matter though. _He grinned as he walked towards the door. _I would probably do anything those two asked me to do._

As he stepped outside he noticed that there was no floor beneath his feet. He windmilled his arms in a vein attempt to reenter the bathroom. The feeling of dread washed over him as he landed a good sixty feet down.

Ranma looked around to take stock of his situation. He was in a pit that was eerily familiar. When he looked up he could see the bathroom door and the exit of the corridor. Some light filtered down, but everything was still to dark to see properly. He was stalled from jumping to the exit as he heard a creepy high pitched laugh.

"Ah the young warrior, trapped like a rat." A falsetto rang from nowhere. "A rat to be used as a better mouse trap." Laughter bounced of the walls. "Soon, your precious Buttercup will come to save you from your only fear, only to fall right into my hands. Your own love for each other causing her own-" The voice paused before dropping into a demonic level. "-**DEMISE**!"

"I ain't afraid of nothing!" Ranma bellowed as he looked around to spot the source of the creepy voice.

"**OH, NO**?" The voice mockingly asked as hundreds of pairs of yellow slitted eyes appeared around him. "Then I suppose you won't mind entertaining my pets. Tah-tah!"

Ranma could do nothing but let out a guttural scream.

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The girls, and Brick, were sitting in the food court waiting for Ranma and the dads. The girls were all talking excitedly about the day while Brick just rolled his eyes. He really wished that Ranma would hurry up so he would have another guy around to talk with. Every one was pulled out of their activities when the Power Puff bracelets started to buzz.

Blossom pressed hers. "What is it, Mayor?" She asked with a little urgency. Everyone became worried when there was no response. "Mayor?" Again nothing. Blossom did what she does best. She took charge. She looked to each of her sisters and her boyfriend to give out orders.

"Bubbles, you come with me, we're going ahead to make sure the Mayor is safe." She turned to Brick next. "Brick, take auntie and find the dads. Let them know that things are being cut short." She turned to Buttercup last. "Go get Ranma and meet us at the Mayors. I don't like this." She scanned the group and nodded. "Alright, let's go!"

Brick watched as Blossom and Bubbles took off. He turned to Ranma's mother and smiled to calm her worried expression. "Don't worry, they do this kind of thing all the time. Now I think I saw the Professor and Mr. Saotome at the hardware store."

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Buttercup smiled at the chance for some action and floated towards the bathroom corridor. The color drained from her face as she heard a scream of pure terror. It was Ranma. When she reached the corridor she noticed that the floor was missing and in its place was a deep pit. She could barely make out Ranma cowering in the center. She started down and landed next to him.

"Ranma, are you okay?" She asked in a voice full of concern. He immediately sprung to his feet.

"Yeah, no problem." He said with a hint of psychosis. His body was shaking like a leaf on a tree.

"Oh, the poor boy." A singsong voice called out. "Afraid of a cute little cat."

"Am not!"

"Him!" Buttercup spun around to face the demon.

It was a bizarre look. The man had a black beard that curled at the tip and he was dressed in drag. In the place of hands were lobster claws. The look was anything but intimidating, but there was one thing that Ranma could not deny. The man had and aura of absolute power.

"Who?"

"The demon. His name is so foul that you can only refer to him as Him."

"**I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!**" Him shouted. "**COVER HIM!**" He commanded. Hundreds of cats jumped onto Ranma. The boy froze and started to chuckle. Him turned to Buttercup. "And now I have you all alone." Buttercup felt her body become enveloped in some sort of field. Her strength was being drained from her body. "By the time your **PRECIOUS** sisters discover the ruse, it will be too late. The young warrior here will be consumed by his own **FEAR**. And you, you will be nothing more that an **EMPTY HUSK**."

"Mreowrr..."

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"And so the girls took off to help the Mayor." Brick finished explaining the situation to the Professor and Genma. Before anymore headway was made, however, everyone's head turned to the sound of pure terror. Genma paled as he recognized the sound.

"Brick." He said turning to the boy. He handed the boy a wad of cash. "Go gather as much cat nip as you can find. Don't ask questions. Meet me at the food court!" He called out as he took off at top speed, lab coat billowing behind him.

"Sure thing, Mr. S!"

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The haze in Buttercup's mind lifted as she felt her power slowly returning. She fell to one knee as her feet touched the ground. She didn't know what was happening, but she was glad to be out of Him's control. _Ranma!_ She remembered seeing him surrounded by cats, cowering in fear. She looked up to see one of the strangest sights in her life. Ranma has down on all fours stalking Him, who was backed up against the wall. The pit and cats had disappeared, and they were once again in the corridor.

"It wasn't suppose to go like this!" Him cried out as he started to vanish in a spiral. "I'll discover your true weakness next time, boy!" He called out before his presence was completely gone.

Buttercup was confused. Why was Ranma acting so much like a cat. She stiffened as the boy's head turned and he spotted her. She felt a sense of foreboding as the boy slowly crept his way towards her, doing something that sounded a lot like an authentic purr. She gulped as he pounced, her power still not completely recovered. She opened her eyes when she felt herself gently pushed to the ground and noticed that Ranma was curled up in her lap. When he looked up at her, he purred and nuzzled her face. A light breeze came in with a strange sent. Ranma yawned loudly before wobbling side to side and ultimately passing out. She looked out the corridor to see Brick emptying a large bag of catnip into an industrial fan controlled by Genma.

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"And when I tried to cure the cat fist by surrounding him with docile cats, he still couldn't handle it. It is my most shameful act to this date, and I have never forgiven myself." Genma finished his tragic story with tears in his eyes.

Everyone was back at the Utonium house listening to Genma's explanation. Blossom and Bubbles felt really guilty about what had happened to their sister, and Nodoka was worried about her boy. She was not, however, happy with her husband. She would have to discuss this with him in private, once their effects had finished shipping to America. The honor blade would go long way in humbling Genma.

"I really understand where the boy is coming from." Everyone turned to the Professor. "A cat once forced me to jump from a building as a young boy. I hate them too. Let Ranma know when he wakes up I have a small device that will help keep cats away." He said with a slightly cruel smile.

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Buttercup made her way up to Ranma's room where the boy was currently passed out. She found him sitting up in his bed. "Ranma?"

"I should have told you." He said softly. "If anyone deserved to know about my true fear, it should be you. You could have gotten me out of there before anything bad happened."

"Ranma, you saved me. I'm kinda happy you didn't tell me. I mean, if Him knew, he would have been ready for the cat fist, right?" She said as she took a seat on the bed next to him. "Besides, it was a nice surprise to have you curl up in my lap, even if you had no idea what you were doing."

"I did what?" Ranma's eyebrows shot up. Buttercup pulled out a picture that Brick had taken of Ranma nuzzling her. "I'm going to have to have a talk with Brick about his paparazzi tendencies." Ranma said in a voice that promised a lot of pain.

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**AN:** Well, yet another chapter. I thought of the frame for this one while climbing mount Fuji. My advice, unless you're a masochist, don't do it. Man, I can't believe no one caught the clue I left in the title. Everyone thought that Meow was the clue. You're kidding right? THAT was a billboard. Hell Is Meow. H. I. M. Him. That was the clue. At any rate, I do hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I was going for a little more character development, especially for Nodoka. I feel that if the curse would have come out a lot earlier in the manga the acceptance would have been a lot easier. I mean, Nodoka saw Ranma as some sort of perverse man due to all the mishaps caused by the curse, like Happosai forcing the schoolgirl uniform on him. I also hope that I gave a decent reason for Nodoka wanting to treat Ranma's girl side as her daughter. Also, I am going to start looking for Beta readers. I will post my email address in my profile. For application, send me an omake from any of the chapters, along with why you want to help me. In the long run, I intend to start branching out from just the fanfiction and I could use quite a bit of help. As a beta reader, you will be responsible for my mistakes, and for creating the occasional Omake. Other responsibilities will be discussed after the acceptance of the application. Only apply if you are serious. Mark your email with "Omake Ch.#" and "Application" in the subject. If you want to just write an omake just the "Omake Ch.#" is necessary. Also, review. If you had a penny for every review you give me, you'd have more than I... I only have yen.

**Up Next: **My Wife


	8. My Wife

**Prenotes:**

**AnFan-n-More:** The pun at the end of the last one was totally unintentional. I completely forgot that Yen meant to have a want for something. But please keep this between us, I want the readers to think of me as smart and witty... oh crap.

**Ranma girl 14:** She's coming, don't worry.

**Ranmakim74: **And kissing there shall be! Just not what you expect. Also, thanks for the continued support and reviews.

**Orchamus:** Thank you for the support. If you're ever free, let me know. I could always use another Beta.

**Deucalio****n: **I don't think so, but we'll see. Ranma is just really good at learning what he is shown. It took him a long while to figure out the true secret of qi (Ki or Chi or whatever you want) attacks before being able to use them properly to create his signature blast.

**Jonakhensu: **The power of the puffs is a very hard thing to gauge. Yes, they have gone faster than the speed of light and lift mountains, but these feats happen very rarely. Their powers and overall power levels vary from episode to episode. They have been beaten by the GGG, who are really just normal people.

**Beta by Demon Lord of Blood**

**Clashing Colors**

Ch. 8 – My Wife

"Today, Ranma," Genma started in a voice full of wisdom, alerting Ranma to the importance of the current training. His father continued, "You will learn a Saotome family technique that is of great use to those like us." He produced a bucket of cold water and a kettle. Handing them both to his son, he stood to his full height. "I want you to first strike me with the cold water, followed by the warm." Ranma nodded in understanding, though he didn't quite know what to think of the command.

Genma charged his son, leaping high into the air, letting lose with a large battle aura to intimidate his son into action. Ranma responded quickly, hurling the bucket like a comet at his father and throwing himself into a roll to avoid the coming strike. Without missing a beat, his father had plowed through the attack in Panda form coming down with a knee to where his head had been moments before.

Coming out of the roll, Ranma followed the next part of his instructions by whipping the kettle at the charging Panda who responded by using his claws to slash the flying object apart. He had to jump into the splits in order to escape the high kick that came through the broken kettle. Genma backed off and relaxed his stance.

"This is a modified art, using the base of a technique used frequently by my late master."

_What the hell?_ _All he did was knee at me and follow through with a high kick..._

At Ranma's confused look, Genma tugged at his own gi. When understanding dawned on his son's face, he continued. "I designed this art to quickly changes guises, allowing for one to escape pursuit much more easily." He jumped into a flip and blurred before landing in his lab uniform, sans bandana. "Since the acquisition of our curses, I have begun to use it to escape certain embarrassing moments. I have a training exercise that I expect you to complete by the end of the day. We will truly see if you are your father's son." He ended his speech with a grave look. Producing a medium sized package, he handed it to his son before retreating back into the house. He looked back with a final warning. "The training will be difficult, but see that you do not break."

Ranma wasted no time in opening the package; inside he found a clothing box and a note. He opened the box to reveal a pink tube top and a white mini skirt. _Huh, who picked this one up? _He turned back to the note. _**Turn into a girl and get dressed**__. _With a grumble he complied and changed.

When Ranma returned outside she found a sign posted in the ground that simply read _**look up**_. Confused, she slowly shifted her gaze to the sky, only to squawk in indignation as hot water met his face. He turned quickly to find Buttercup's sisters sitting on the roof. Bubbles was smiling while holding an upended thermos. Blossom had two large bags and a devilish grin. _Where's Buttercup?_

"Hey, nice view! I'm not sure that counts as manly, though."

Ranma turned to find his fiancé staring at his lower half. Before he could retreat, she tossed another box at him. He tore it open to reveal a pair of swim trunks. And with that, he was once again doused in cold water and grabbed by Buttercup, who flew straight up. When they got high enough, she knew exactly where her training was to take place... The beach.

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Blossom saw the target. She had one of her water balloons at the ready. The problem with trying to pull a full aerial attack was that the sound of her flying had a very distinct, and none too subtle, sound. She had to plan ahead. She would not lose to her sisters. They had bet on who could hit the target the most. The loser would do the winner's chores for a month.

She grinned as the target started her way. She was currently crouched on the gift shop holding her breath and staying perfectly still. It appeared that the target believed safety would come from the cover available in the shop. She could feel her cruel laughter bubble up in her throat and tried to stifle it. The target froze and shot a glare to her, it was now or never.

She exploded into action, cocking back her arm while vaulting over the edge for a closer shot. The target turned to flee, fearing the inevitable. Blossom was brought up short, denied her victory as a small blue streak plowed into the target from the side. She cursed as she jumped high into the air, intent on finding a new hiding spot. As she was leaving, she couldn't help but giggle though. The death cry of the target was a sweet symphony to her ears. The follow up comment was even better.

"Dude, did you see the size of that chick's melons?"

Current Score: Blossom 1 Buttercup 0 Bubbles 2+1

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She watched as Ranma ran from the gift shop. She was glad that she had followed up on the rumors of a civil panda seen in the metropolis known as Townsville. She had yet to find said panda, but the girl she sought was right in front of her. It had been so long since their last encounter, the girl always seemed to slip away at the last second. The area was nice, open, and large; so it was unlikely that the girl would escape her fate this time. A self-satisfied smirk played across her lips as she pursued her goal.

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Bubbles giggled to herself as she was walking out of her cover. "Where to next, Mr. Lizard? The seagulls say she is bolting for the bike rental." She questioned, looking down to her companion on her shoe.

#"There are some bushes just outside the building. If you hurry, you could slip in without being noticed."#

Bubbles giggled to herself again as she set the local lizard in some shade. The day was still young, and her sisters needed to be shown that information is the key for battle. She zipped off at top speed, intent on stopping her prey from hiding...

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As Ranma approached her new hiding spot she looked about herself. Buttercup was not even close to being around. She kept on trying to use bombing tactics, so it was easy to hear her coming. Blossom was good at anticipating her own moves, but shoddy in execution. It was Bubbles that had her worried.

The seemingly air-headed girl always popped up in the least expected places, as if she knew where Ranma herself was headed. She had already figured out the quick change, but she was always a few seconds late of doing it during the change. It didn't matter, though. She made it to her destination and looked around a few more times. Everything seemed fine. The bushes looked large enough to hide from sight for a nice long while. She smiled as she walked towards her salvation...

Current Score: Blossom 1 Buttercup 0 Bubbles 3+1

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On top of the bicycle rental she waited. She watched as the girl she hunted approached, looking everywhere in paranoia. She ducked down behind the low wall of the small building. It wouldn't be long until she got her revenge. She hefted the steel bat she recently had to purchase and sighed in disappointment.

Getting through customs for the insanely anal country had been taxing, to say the least. She ended up having to ship her arsenal from her home. It wouldn't arrive for a few days still. The bat would have to do. When she was done here, she planned to get a part time job and do some traditional hunting in the wilds of this vastly different land. She smiled, imagining returning home not only with her honor intact, but also an assortment of rare trophies.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a splash followed by a loud curse.

"Damn it, Bubbles! How can you know where I'm going to be all the damn time!" An accented male voice flowed up.

A girl's giggle followed shortly after. "Don't worry too much about it, Ranma." _Ranma? _"I have my secrets. Ooh, your timing is getting better!"

The girl peered over the ledge to see an (incredibly cute) Asian boy talking with a busty blond girl. The boy vaguely resembled the girl, Ranma, but was taller with black hair and definitely male. The boy dashed off and the girl lazily floated away. The floating caught her interest, but she didn't have time to think about it too much. She looked around, but saw her prey nowhere. She grumbled as she left the rental store behind. She would find the girl today; she just needed a little patience.

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Current Score: Blossom 9 Buttercup 0 Bubbles 37

The hours had churned away and Buttercup was getting furious. It was going on three in the afternoon. Every time she had found Ranma he either bolted or one of her sisters would get to him first. She had already lost the bet, she knew, but she'd be damned if she didn't get at least one hit in. It was time for drastic measures.

She took some time to fill two large bags with around seventy of each hot and cold water balloons. There was something to be said about quantity over quality. It was like getting multi-ball in pinball. Most of the balls would fail to be useful, but some would get lucky.

As she walked around one of the shops dotting the beach, she saw him climbing a palm tree. She grinned as she knew it was time to play catch up. She lifted the first two balloons and let loose.

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Bubbles rushed towards the commotion. One of the birds had relayed the event of her sister going crazy on Ranma, who had nowhere to go. If it was going to come down to all out crossfire, she was not going to lose. She called out to the birds to have some of the squirrels supply here with as many balloons as they could. It was time for all-out war, and she planned to win.

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Blossom was walking down the beach after having some ice cream to cool off. She was glad that she was not behind, she really did not want to clean Bubble's room for a month.

_***Nice one, what does that bring the score to?***_

_***9, 7, 58. You just may be able to get out of this without loosing.***_

Blossom's eyes grew in shock. She was about to lose, and that she could not accept. She was glad that Buttercup was being nice enough to use the walkies at this crucial moment. Being the fastest of her sisters, she poured on the juice, seemingly vanishing from her previous spot. She would be damned if she lost now.

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Ranma was breathing hard. She had been getting pummeled for the last 5 minutes solid. He didn't know what queued it, but both his fiance and her sister came out of nowhere on a warpath. She was caught in a pincer with no route of escape. She had been changed back and forth too many times to keep track of, and was getting tired out from constantly changing clothes faster than the eye could follow. He couldn't even feel his body go through the motions anymore. It was like she was on automatic.

She barely weaved out of the way of a red balloon coming into the mix. She had barely enough time to look up and see Blossom wearing a cruel grin before letting loose with machine gun like speed. He just groaned. He really didn't care what clothes he was in, but he doubted his mother would like it very much if her breasts were hanging out all of the time.

After a few minutes, she looked around. All of the girls were smiling with faces of pure enjoyment that couldn't help but be infectious. Well, he might as well join the fun too. He plucked the closest blue water balloon out of the air, and, with a flick of the wrist, she sent it back towards the owner. When an outraged shriek met her ears, her cocky grin came in full force. The training had ended. Now it was just war time fun.

Final Score: Blossom 24 Buttercup 15 Bubbles 67

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She was getting tired of chasing that damned girl all over the place for hours. Every time she saw her, the redheaded girl would somehow disappear. Sometimes a boy with the same name would be there.

That wasn't the only strange thing she had seen all day either. There was another redhead that could be seen flying from building to building. Sometime it would interfere with her hunt, but she wasn't sure how powerful the girl might be, especially if she could fly.

The blonde girl she had seen earlier, who could also fly, would occasionally click, chatter, meow, bark and chirp at the animals. Said animals would take the time to stop and start making various noises back at her. It was almost as if they were all talking. The girl would float away, hugging cover. As if she too were hunting.

There was also a lean boy in green that, surprise surprise, was flying around. He had an almost effeminate beauty about him. It made her blush at the idea of being beaten in combat by a boy with enough power to fly. He seemed to be angry for some reason or another. He would zip about the sky as if searching for someone. America seemed a stranger and stranger place, but she was enjoying almost every minute of it.

Another thirty minutes had passed, and she was about to give up hope when she came across the two girls and the boy in green all laughing. It really shouldn't have been a surprise that they knew each other. They all could fly after all. Her curiosity peaked, she crept closer. The girls jumped and waved to the boy before jetting into the sky and taking off.

What she saw next left her stunned. Ranma was there with a big grin. She had been blocked from view by the other, taller, girls. Brandishing her improvised weapon, the huntress shot forward, bringing the steel down with all her might. Ranma dodged predictably and looked back into her eyes with shock.

"Shampoo..." The girl breathed out, unable to move.

"Ranma, you I kill!"

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Ranma and the girls were walking away from the ice cream shop, all satisfied. They had ended their all-out war a while ago and decided to just relax. Everyone had a blast, and their bright smiles seemed to creep into all the people that surrounded them.

"I still wish you had gotten a chance to see Bubbles' face the first time you hit her." Buttercup said through a laugh. "She just froze. She wasn't expecting it at all!"

"Laugh all you want, you still have to do my chores for a month." Bubbles gave a small raspberry at her sister.

"You sure are lucky, having the network of animals around." Blossom said with her arms held behind her head. Bubbles' was trying to stop her with some hand signals, but her sister wasn't watching.

"What do the animals have to do with anything?" Ranma asked to the tallest sister.

"Nothing."

Buttercup hopped in, "Nothing my ass. She can talk to the animals, so she knew exactly where you were going every time." She snorted, "This was really only ever a competition between me and Blossom. We knew the animals would give her an advantage outdoors. They always do."

"You can talk to animals?" Ranma asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, but I like to keep it as a surprise. Knowledge is power, after all." Bubbles replied.

"Man, that's so cool!" Ranma shouted out. "You're like that one dude in the comics, Waterdude or something."

"Aquaman?"

"Yeah, that one!" Ranma giggled. Her eyes widened in horror as she slapped her hands over her mouth. The girls laughed at her. They all continued to talk before finally reaching the entrance of the beach. They were interrupted in the end by Bubbles cell beeping. She checked it quickly and sighed.

"I'm going to get going, it looks like Mr. Pig is stuck somewhere again." She chuckled, thinking that Ryoga was probably stuck in the lab or someone's room. He seemed to be getting more familiar with the house, though it was taking a long time.

"I'll go with you," Blossom said after checking her watch. "I'm supposed to meet Brick in a couple of hours, so I'd like to get cleaned up."

Both girls hopped into the air and waved at their sister and her fiancé before jetting off in the direction of the house. Ranma grinned and turned back to Buttercup. Before she could start talking, her finely tuned danger senses went into overdrive. She flipped back just in time to avoid being crushed, grimacing as she landed. _I definitely have to learn to do that with__out giving the world a free shot of my panties_. She looked up into the eyes of the one person she never expected to see again.

"Shampoo..." She breathed out stunned.

"Ranma, you I kill!" The purple haired girl growled out as she charged.

Ranma weaved to the side of the next attack only to bend back to avoid the roundhouse follow up. She could not, however, avoid the sweep that followed from the opposite direction. Landing hard on the ground, she looked up winded only to find the bat coming down towards her head. She rolled to the side, barely missing having her skull caved in. She watched as Shampoo tried to anticipate her roll again, prompting her to somersault backwards to her feet.

The vicious girl's assault did not end. She tried to advance on the redhead, sweeping the bat left to right, high and low at a furious pace. Ranma hopped, decked, rolled and deflected every blow that came too close for comfort. Looking about frantically for an escape route left Ranma disappointed. The beach was just far to open to be able to effectively retreat. Her disappointment did not last too long as the assault abruptly stopped.

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Shampoo struggled to swing the bat at her target again, but it just wouldn't move. She glanced back to find the weapon held in the grip of the boy in green. He was looking none too happy. She gulped back her fear as the boy growled at her. Without so much as an ounce of exertion, the boy crushed the steel in his hand.

Releasing the bat instinctively, she had only a split second to react as the boy shot forward. She felt his fist bury into her gut as she was lifted off the ground, pain shattering her. Crumpling to the ground, she tried to fill her lungs with the air that would not come. If Ranma had someone this strong protecting her, she may never be able to fulfill her goal.

The boy advanced on her, fire in his eyes. She was already beaten, but the boy was in a rage. Shampoo felt real fear, something she was unfamiliar with. She looked up, trying not to let the tears flow. She was surprised when she saw his advance stop.

"Stop, please." Ranma pleaded. "This ain't her fault." Shampoo couldn't understand this. The girl she had been trying to kill for months was trying to protect her?

"Not her fault?" The boy shouted back. "Ranma, she tried to kill you just now! I have to stop her."

"You already did. Look at her, she can barely move. I doubt she will be fighting at all for the rest of the day. Look, this whole situation is my fault, anyways." The boy looked back at her. She tried to look back defiantly, but her tears just kept coming. The boy's eyes softened as he looked at her. She tried to sit back up. The boy crouched in front of her and held her up.

"Are you alright?" He asked. She could hear the regret in his voice. She knew immediately what she had to do. Not only was it her village law, but her heart was screaming for her to comply. She placed her hands on the boy's shoulder to steady herself. She tried to convey her feelings through her eye as she could still barely catch her breath.

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"Hey, we gotta leave, NOW." Ranma emphasized the urgency. She wasn't going to let Buttercup receive the kiss of death as well. It wasn't that Buttercup wouldn't be able to deal with it or anything, but Shampoo had it rough enough just trying to kill her as it was.

"Just a second, I'm making sure I didn't hurt her too much." Buttercup turned back to the strange girl. She was a little confused by the intense stare the girl was giving her. The girl started to lean into her and she couldn't help but feel a creeping doom with the advance. Ranma started to urgently tug on one of her arms, but something froze her in place. She was not expecting to feel soft lips on her own, nor the tongue that briefly probed her mouth. Ranma stopped tugging on her arm.

When the girl pulled away, she glanced at Ranma, who just shrugged back with a look of shock and a face lit up with a blush at watching two girls kiss like that. She looked back to the girl who had leaned her head on her shoulder.

"Wo ai ni." The girl looked up at her. At Buttercup's confused look, she got a look of determination before trying again. "You I love."

Buttercup's face lit up as she turned mechanically to an annoyed looking Ranma. "I think we're going to need Bubbles' help."

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**AN:** Yo, sorry for the hiatus. I really let myself get too damn lazy after my stay in Cambodia and Singapore. Then I got back to work and got loaded down with grading papers. Busy at work, lazy at home; neither a good excuse to leave everyone hanging. I've been working on this one all week, mainly because it radically changed after I started writing. Don't worry too much as I do have plans for the situation, though, as always, they may change. At any rate, I figure that for every review I get for this one, I'll receive a 1% bonus to the success of my upcoming date and overall courtship of a really cute girl^^. Please don't make me a failure, or I'll send Santa Claws after you! (V)!/*\!(V)


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